Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: UC 0079
by SSJ2 Future Gohan
Summary: An MSG-SEED crossover The year is UC 0079, war has broken out between the Earth Federation and ZAFT. Can two pilots, one newtype and the other a coordinator bring this war to an end, or is the world doomed to destruction? FINISHED
1. Chapter I: The Empty Battlefield

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SEED, Zeta Gundam, or Gundam 0083, so don't sue.

Earth

Side 1 (destroyed)

Side 2: Sweetwater Colony

Side 3: Republic of Zeon (destroyed)

Side 4 (destroyed)

Side 5: (destroyed)

Side 6: Heliopolis (Orb Union)

Side 7: Green Noa

PLANTs

Moon: Granada Lunar Base

Luna II Asteroid Base (looks a lot like Solomon though, abandoned)

Jachin Due Asteroid Base

* * *

- Chapter I: The Empty Battlefield -

Universal Century 0070

It was a bright sunny morning when Casval Daikum woke up in his bed in the royal palace but saw ZAFT GINN mobile suits tear a hole into the colony's side. His father Zeon Zum Daikun was the leader of the Republic of Zeon, a cluster of colonies designated as Side 3. The Republic of Zeon declared formal independence from the Earth Federation and believed that Newtypes were the next step in humanity. However, ZAFT, the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty of the PLANTs, decided the threat of the newtype was too great to ignore and launched a pre-emptive war against the Republic of Zeon and within weeks, Zeon fell. Millions of people that lived in Side 3, including Zeon Daikum were all killed in the name of the Coordinator's future. However, Casval Daikum would end up surviving this incident known as the One Month War… Under a disguise of Char Aznable, he enlisted in the Earth Federation military and became a fighter pilot for the Earth Federation Space Force, filled with hatred and revenge against ZAFT for killing his father and destroying his homeland.

Universal Century 0079, January 2, Operation Cosmic Era

ZAFT drops Side's 1 and 4 onto the Earth, destroying both North America and southern Australia.

Universal Century 0079 Janurary 22, Side 5 Luom Area

The 1st Combined Earth Federal Fleet had converged near Side 5's Luom, with the Magellan-class vessel, Ananke, being the flagship. The entire area as filled with Salamis-class and Magellan-class vessels with many Saberfish fighters all about scrambling against the ZAFT forces.

The cargo bay doors opened, and a ray of sunlight streamed through the small crack, falling upon Char Aznable's face. Slightly closing his eyes, he waited a few seconds until the photosensitive cockpit glass and helmet visor all but negated the light before reopening them. He looked on at his necklace pendant which was a golden comet with a red ruby sphere at the end and kissed it. As he looked back towards the speckled curtain of space, he allowed himself a small grin. Normally, the Federation was quite uptight with the status quo. But after exhibiting exceptional skill as a pilot, he had been allowed to customize his Saberfish. Normally, the fighter was painted white with orange on the nosecone, the front of the main fuselage, and the wings, with commander units using blue instead of orange.

But The Red Comet, also known as Char Aznable's personal Saberfish, was predominantly colored light red, with the accents highlighted with a bloody crimson and some of the minor details painted a smoky black. The customization and the new paintjob caused a stir within the Federation brass since it was a common practice among ZAFT ace pilots. But Char argued that if Federation aces were given the same fame and recognition, the soldiers would fight harder.

"Attention, Red Squadron. You have been cleared for take-off." Said Captain Bright Noa of the Magellan-class vessel, the "Magellan."

Snapping back to the present, Char started up the systems in his Saberfish and gripped the control stick. All of the sudden General Revil himself chimed in on all of the frequency to an open message to all of the Earth Federal Forces.

"The Earth's fate lies in this battle. I'm counting on you, good luck!"

Reaching over to his right, he pressed a button on his comms panel. "This is Red Leader, acknowledged. All units, scramble and follow me in standard formation."

A chorus of voices chimed "Yessir!" into his helmet-mounted earpiece. As much as he would have preferred to eschew the use of a space helmet, it was a foolish not to when only a few inches of reinforced glass stood between you and the hard vacuum of space. In such small ways, logic won out over personal preference, but it didn't stop Char from having a red normal suit to match his Saberfish.

Engaging the rocket engines, the red Saberfish jetted out of the hangar of the Magellan-class ship "Magellan", which served as the mothership for Char's Red Squad and another team, lead by the veteran instructor South Burning. As his Saberfish pulled up nearby the older man's, they looked over at each other and gave each other two-finger salutes.

"Hey Aznable! I expect some ass kicking from you ya here! Let's take some of these damned ZAFT assholes down!" yelled Lt. South Burning, leader of the 4th Saberfish Squadron in his blue FF-S3 Saberfish fighter.

"Of Course, heh… Good luck Burning! And may the glory of victory be yours!" replied Char through his red-black Saberfish, tuned for ace pilots.

Char turned his red Saberfish towards the battle line and his sensors picked up 3 GINN mobile suits and he also sensed that the ZAFT forces were using their N-Jammer technology.

"Damn… Looks like they want to learn the hard way! Apolly! Sleggar! Cover me! Don't fall behind!" ordered Char as he began to engage his first fateful target. He charged at it with lightning speed and to the GINN pilot looked like a red blur and the next thing he saw were a wave of missiles and a volley of beam cannons from the red Saberfish as his mobile suit exploded into the hard vacuum of space, killing the pilot as well.

"Heh! That's one! Now to get some more!" yelled Char as he charged at his next target from behind as he shot a volley of missiles at the GINN's nuclear reactor engine and watched him explode as the Saberfish flew through it. "Two!"

"He… He… that red fighter! He moves… so fast… He's like a… a… Red Comet!" yelled a GINN pilot that broadcasted his message on an open frequency.

"Thanks for the nickname, heh… But you're next!" Char yelled as he shot his beam cannons into the torso of the GINN that christened his nickname and didn't look back for Char already knew the pilot was dead and moved on to shoot yet another GINN mobile suit down. "That's four…"

Char then approached his 5th target, another GINN mobile suit. The pilot of the GINN seemed to flinch at the speed and presence of Char's red Saberfish and tried to charge at Char but Char easily evaded him.

"He's afraid… heh…" said Char.

"Shit! Why can't I shoot that damn red fighter down!" yelled the GINN pilot as he fired his machine gun at the Saberfish.

"Five!" yelled Char as he fired his beam cannons at the GINN, tearing away at it's cockpit, killing the pilot. Char then turned his attention to a Laurasia-class cruiser and fired a whole volley of missiles and beam cannon shots at the hull, destroying the ship in two.

"Five mobile suits down and a ship under my kills, I'd say luck has been on my side today. Heh." Said Char.

"Hey Ensign Char! That was very impressive, looks like they'll be singing your praises in Jaburo tomorrow, 'Red Comet.'" Remarked Burning.

"'Twas nothing." Char replied simply as he chuckled to himself.

During this time, the Earth Alliance's intolerance towards the Coordinators were growing, and their opinions of Newtypes were no different. However, little did they know that Char was a newtype, and a very powerful one at that. Soon after the final Battle of Luom, Char was given a special promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade. From that day on, "The Red Comet" was a name synonymous with death amongst the ZAFT ranks… After this battle, the Antarctic Treaty was signed, banning all use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The war was at a stalemate…

Universal Century 0079, September 18, Side 7…

The Earth Federation has finally developed two secret prototype mobile suits, the RX-78GP01 Gundam "Zephyranthes" and the RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" to counter ZAFT's advanced mobile suits. Under the codename "V-Project" the Federation built the Gundam Unit 1 as a prototype mobile suit as a means of creating a mass-production mobile suit to turn the tide of war. Gundam Unit 2's purpose however, was purely for tactical reasons, as a first-strike nuclear mobile suit, armed with a bazooka capable of shooting an MK-82 nuclear warhead. The Federation's new warship, the White Base, a Pegasus-class ship, was the Federation's most advanced warship, which was equipped to carry mobile suits. Lieutenant JG Char Aznable was reassigned to the crew of the White Base as a fighter pilot.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Char Aznable reporting sir!" yelled Char as he approached an old man wearing an officer's uniform.

"At ease Red Comet, heh." Said Captain Eiphar Synapse. "So, what's your impression of the ship?"

"I think it's a fine ship sir. With this ship we'll have no problems at all crushing the ZAFT forces." Said Char.

"I certainly hope the same. I just want this awful war to end. Did you know that there are guerillas fighting on Earth against ZAFT who are not even 14 yet? Just hope my family is alright. I haven't seen them in months." Said Synapse.

"That true? That certainly is a sad thing to hear…" said Char as he sighed.

"So Char? Have a family? A girlfriend perhaps?" asked Synapse.

Char was about to answer but then he found himself hesitating as he struggled to get the words out from the bottom of his throat. He searched for the answer as Synapse looked on at Char's face intently and then it all came like a wave at Char. He remembered that day when Char had woken up in the Presidential Palace on his bed and he went downstairs and his mother smiled at him and gave him a playful smack on his butt.

"Morning mommy!" chirped Casval happily. "Morning dad!"

"Morning Casval! So you ready to go fishing today?" asked his father.

"Of course, I've been looking forward to it all month!" said Casval. "You rarely get time off from your presidential duties."

And with that the three went down a level to eat their lavish breakfast of eggs, sausage, French toast, and fruit salad. Casval was about done when a Zeon soldier had alerted Zeon Daikum that Casval had a certain visitor.

"Hey son, it seems your girlfriend is here." Said Zeon as he laughed at the expense of his own son's embarrassment.

"Is it that Lacus Clyne girl? She's a very sweet person." Remarked her mom which didn't help Char's position.

"I'm only 10 and girls are soo icky!" said Char with certain contempt as he got up and walked off towards the waiting room. "And she's only a friend!"

Casval entered the waiting room and saw a pink-haired girl holding a pink Haro robot pet. She quickly got up and hugged Casval, wrapping her arms around the young Zeon blonde. She smiled at him but then suddenly she frowned.

"Hey Lacus, what's wrong?" asked Casval.

"My father says we have to leave Side 3 and go back to the PLANTs…" said Lacus. "He says the PLANTs and the Republic of Zeon are on bad terms and war is likely… But hey, Casval, listen, don't be sad, I'll always write to you."

"I see… Will you ever come back? I'm going to miss you very much Lacus… You're my best friend…" said Casval sadly as he looked to the ground shedding tears.

"I don't know, but hopefully one day I'll come back, and we can be together forever…" said Lacus as she suddenly blushed at what she said. "Casval… I think… I like you more than just a best friend…"

Casval blushed and leaned in to kiss Lacus on the cheek who was blushing even more.

"Hey Casval, I want you to hear this new song I just wrote not too long ago. Tell me what you think, okay?" smiled Lacus as Casval nodded and Lacus began to sing with her sweet voice.

_In this quiet night, I'm waiting for you_

_During that time, your smile has faded away_

_Now that a little time has passed,_

_Fond memories start to resurface._

_At the place where stars fall,_

_I'm always wishing for your laughter._

_Even though we're apart now_

_We can meet again, right?_

_To the place where stars fall,_

_I want my thoughts to reach you._

_I am always by your side_

_Since I will embrace that coldness._

_Even though we're apart now,_

_We will definitely be back together._

"That was great Lacus! You'd be a great singer, and you'll probably be famous one day!" said Casval as he smiled.

"Sure hope so, my skills as a coordinator help me out a lot, and if you're right, you've got to be a psychic or something." Said Lacus as she laughed.

Casval laughed as he remembered his father talking about newtypes with him last night over the dinner table. He sighed and then embraced Lacus once more before she had to go. But then Lacus put something into Casval's hand, it was a golden comet pendant with a ruby sphere on the end of the gold comet.

"Take this, and keep it. It will protect you, and with this I'll always be with you, Casval Daikun." Said Lacus as she gave Casval another kiss and walked off with tears in her eyes.

"Lacus…" Casval said as he clung to the pendant.

About an hour later, Casval, his father, and his other friend Anavel Gato were on the side of a river fishing. His mother and his sister Artesia were sitting on a blanket nearby. Anavel looked over at Casval and saw the sadness in his face.

"You alright there Casval?" asked Anavel.

"Yea… I'm fine." Replied Casval rather blandly.

"You're not still thinking about that coordinator girl Lacus are ya! Hmph! Newtypes will always be far superior to coordinator scum!" said Gato with a rather arrogant tone. "You and I, Casval, are newtypes! That's why my daddy said we're going to war with the PLANTs!"

"Daddy! Is it true!" asked Casval in a rather shocked tone.

Zeon sighed as he rubbed the forehead of his temple. He looked over at his son with a look of sadness.

"Listen, Gato, Casval. I hate to do this to you both, but war is definitely coming. If something ever happens, I want you both to run to the nearest emergency shelter escape pod. You two are the future of Zeon, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Those coordinators at the PLANTs seem to only want war…" said Casval's father.

"Daddy! Look! An explosion!" yelled Casval.

"WHAT!" yelled his father as he stood up and saw 3 ZAFT GINN mobile suits enter the colony from the hole they created as they began to fire their 76mm machine guns all throughout the colony. Another one fired missiles onto an important government building and as a result created another hole in the colony as countless people were being killed or being sucked into the hard vacuum of space. Then one of the GINN's pulled out something that resembled a large flamethrower but it was hooked up to a large tank labeled G-3 with a skull on it.

"Casval! Anavel! RUN!" yelled his father.

"But daddy! What about you?" yelled Casval.

"GO! RUN CASVAL! NEVER LOOK BACK!" yelled his father as the GINN began to pour out its canister of poison gas as everyone around him began to suffocate and choke from the gas.

"CASVAL! WE HAVE TO GO!" yelled Anavel as he grabbed his friend's arm towards an emergency shelter and sealed the door shut and the two got into different space pods.

"Anavel, I don't know if we'll end up in the same place or if we'll even make it period, but hopefully we'll see each other again soon. Victory for Zeon!"

"Victory for Zeon!" yelled Anavel as he sped off in his pod towards a Gwazine-class ship and Char towards the direction of Earth. "Stay alive, Casval."

In the distance, Casval could see a ZAFT government official's ship. He looked in closer and saw it was Chairman Siegel Clyne and his daughter, Lacus Clyne. Casval knew why they were here, to find rescue his emergency pod. Casval sighed and continued on his present course towards the earth. He wanted to be with Lacus again, but Casval had set himself on a mission… of revenge.

"Father, I will avenge you… I will punish ZAFT for the glory of Zeon… I swear on it." Said Casval as his pod was rescued by an Earth Federal Forces Magellan-class ship, the _Ananke_, Admiral Revil's ship. From that day on, Casval Daikun died, and the legendary Char Aznable was born…

Char was broken from his thoughts as he saw himself falling to the ground. He could many Federation soldiers scrambling about as they screamed for medics and base defense personnel.

"What the hell was that Oscar!" yelled Synapse.

"Sir! Three ZAFT mobile suits have entered the colony!" Oscar, the bridge operator replied. "Sir! ZAFT has stolen Gundam Unit 2!"

"WHAT! The one with the nuclear warhead! SHIT! Can we send anyone out!" yelled Synapse.

"No sir! We don't have any fighters sir!" replied Marker, another bridge operator.

"I'll go out there in my Saberfish sir!" said Char as he saluted Captain Synapse.

"Looks like we don't have any choice, be careful Lieutenant." Said Synapse.

With that, Char ran out towards the White Base's hangar and jumped into his red Saberfish fighter and turned the controls on. He looked at the fuel gauge and saw that it was full, but there were only 6 missiles left, and the beam vulcans didn't have much charge left. Meanwhile Captain Synapse and most of the crew went on colony defense duty as they tried to repel the ZAFT forces with their tanks and missiles. Synapse went to the colony missile post and fired at the Vesalius, the Nazca-class cruiser that had been tailing the White Base since it reached Side 7.

"Sir! Incoming missiles from the colony Commander La Crueset!" said one of the ZAFT operators of the ship.

"Then fire right back!" ordered Rau Le Crueset as the Vesalius fired its missiles at the colony and hit Synapse's missile bunker.

"Captain!" yelled a large, somewhat portly soldier.

"I'm alright, just make sure everyone else is. Take me back to the ship Ryu." Asked Synapse.

"Yes sir." Replied Ryu as he grabbed the Captain from under the arms and back to the White Base.

"Damn, looks like I'll have to conserve the ammo. Char Aznable here! Launching in Saberfish!" yelled Char as he launched from the catapault and into Side 7's colony airspace. He searched around and he sensed the 3 GINN's that entered the colony, but he also sensed something else, heavy breathing…

A young boy around the age of 16 with brown hair and a slight uni-bang covering some of his forehead was running towards the air raid shelter. He stopped and looked up to see the three GINN's terrorizing the colony, destroying many Federation tanks and defense forces. He then saw a familiar face…

"Kira! Come on! Hurry! We've got to get to the bomb shelter before we get killed!" yelled a blonde-haired girl.

"Go on without me Cagalli! There's something I need to do before I go!" yelled Kira as he ran off towards Gundam Unit 2 and saw his best friend, Athrun Zala. The two had gone to the same preparatory school in Von Braun City on the Moon and were the best of friends, but had not seen each other since. But Kira couldn't believe it, he saw Athrun in a ZAFT uniform as he stole the Gundam Unit 2. But Athrun then took aim at another young women with brunette hair in her late 20's, he could see her name tag, "Lieutenant Murrue Ramius."

"Hey! Watch out! He's going to shoot you!" yelled Kira as he quickly ran up and tackled her to the ground before Athrun released the shot from his pistol. Murrue shot right back at him but was no use since Athrun had already gotten into the cockpit and ran off with Unit 2 through the hole which the ZAFT forces created. Murrue then saw one of the GINN's taking aim with their machineguns at Kira and out of nowhere Murrue carried Kira into the cockpit of Gundam Unit 1 and sat at the controls, trying to figure out the complex controls of the Federation's prototype mobile suit. Kira stood by her side and watched her activate the mobile suit's operating system, but he could tell she couldn't pilot very well. Murrue tried to use the vulcans but her shots were way off as the GINN easily dodged and shot his own machinegun at the Gundam.

"Trying to pilot that mobile suit and fight me! You're in way over your head natural!" yelled Miguel.

"Looks like that pilot in Unit 1 can't operate that mobile suit very well. Guess it's up to me then." Said Char as he charged in and shot a volley of beam vulcans at the GINN as he flinched.

"Pesky fly!" Miguel yelled from the GINN as he fired his guns at the red Saberfish. "A red Saberfish! It's... the Red Comet!"

"The Red Comet! Char Aznable!" yelled Kira as Murrue tried to slash the GINN ahead with the beam saber but again missed. "Ma'am, I'll take the controls, please you've got to listen to me!"

With that, Murrue stepped aside and let Kira at the controls. He quickly re-programmed the operating system with super-human efficiency and looked towards the GINN that was charging at the Gundam Unit 1. Quickly Kira responded by firing his vulcans at him and destroyed the arm of the GINN.

"This boy, he… knows how to pilot this thing!" thought Murrue as she blushed. "Is he coordinator? He is kind of cute…"

"What! It's moving better than it was before!" yelled Miguel. "Impossible!"

Kira looked back and saw Flay and the rest of his friends screaming as they tried to get into the shelter, this made Kira feel a surge of anger that rose within him and he looked back at the GINN that got back up. He pulled out the beam saber once again and charged at Miguel who flinched back.

"AHHHHHHH!" yelled Miguel as his GINN was slashed in two with the beam saber and exploded, creating another hole in the colony. Meanwhile Char managed to take another one of the GINN's out with a volley of missiles he had left while the other GINN and Gundam Unit 2 escaped back into the hole into space.

"What's your name?" asked Murrue as she looked into Kira's eyes.

"Kira Yamato… I'm a student on Side 7…" said Kira as Murrue approached Kira closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for saving my life back there, I owe you one." Said Murrue as she smiled at Kira.

"It was nothing really…" said Kira as he blushed and headed back to the White Base to land the Gundam Unit 1 after Char had landed his Saberfish into the hangar. Char jumped out from his cockpit and floated back onto the ground as he saw the Captain in a bed being wheeled towards the bridge and saluted. He then turned his attention towards Kira who just came out of Unit 1 along with Murrue. Char couldn't explain, but he felt something from Kira, a strange power, not one of a newtype or a normal coordinator, something was special about him. He then faced Murrue and he saluted.

"I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Char Aznable, at your service ma'am, Lieutenant Murrue Ramius." Said Char.

"I am Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, you are in command Lieutenant Ramius." Stated Natarle as she released her salute.

"What! There must be some mistake! What about Captain Synapse!" asked Murrue incredulously.

"Captain Eiphar Synapse bravely fought to repel ZAFT from Side 7, but was killed by a stray missile from a ZAFT ship." Replied Natarle. "Your orders, Lieutenant."

"I see… How far are we from Granada Lunar Base?" asked Murrue.

"At our present course, it would take us two days to reach Granada." Stated Oscar.

"Very well, set course for Granada." Ordered Murrue.

"Yes ma'am." Everyone replied, except for Kira as he walked off towards the lounge and sighed. Char followed him as well.

"Hold on Char." Said Murrue. "That boy, I couldn't explain it, but he knew how to pilot the Gundam as if he was a veteran soldier, in fact, he piloted it like he was an ace or a coordinator."

"You noticed it as well Lieutenant Ramius?" asked Char as he rubbed his chin. "You're a very perceptive person to have felt that. Perhaps you're a newtype."

"A newtype? Me? You've got to be kidding me." Said Murrue as she chuckled. "Although they're rumors that you're one, 'Red Comet.' In fact, you bear a lot of resemblance to Zeon Daikun's son, Casval Daikun. I saw him on TV once when I was little girl living on earth."

Char's eyes narrowed and then shifted as he put his sunglasses back on and was about to walk towards the lounge but then stopped.

"Lieutenant Ramius, I am Char Aznable, an Earth Federation fighter pilot. Nothing more, nothing less." Stated Char in a matter-of-factly tone and left for the lounge to talk to Kira.

Char sighed as he walked on towards the lounge and began to wonder if his disguise as "Char Aznable" was worth keeping up since it seemed everyone suspected he was really Casval Daikun. But deep down, Char thought to himself that he needed this disguise to hide from the Earth Federation since his true identity would cause an uproar amongst the Federation Brass and the entire population of the Earth's Sphere. Such a disturbance would distract himself from his true goal, defeat ZAFT and kill Patrick Zala for revenge against killing his father and destroying his homeland. Char slowly approached Kira while he was looking out into the vastness of space. Kira sighed as he looked on at the damaged colony of Side 7 while Char placed a hand on Kira's shoulder.

"Your name is Kira Yamato, right? The one who piloted the Gundam Unit 1. I was very impressed with your skills." Said Char.

"Huh? Oh, Lieutenant Junior Grade Char Aznable right? The Red Comet?" said Kira. "You know your face shows up on the news every time you make a kill against a ZAFT GINN. You're the big hero of the Earth Federal Forces."

"I try not to think about that. To tell you the truth, publicity hinders my piloting." Said Char as he laughed.

"Really, that's awfully humble coming from a supposed newtype like yourself." Said Kira.

"Guess that makes it official, you've been the third person to tell me that I'm a newtype, so I must be one." Said Char as he laughed. "And you're a coordinator aren't you. No one else could have done what you did, the way you piloted the Gundam…"

"You got me Char. I'm a coordinator…" replied Kira as he sighed. "And I don't want to get anymore involved in this war than I already have been. I know outside of Side 7, there's been a war going on, but even so, my family retreated to Side 7 to avoid the war. The pilot that stole Gundam Unit 2 was my best friend, Athrun Zala…"

"Why aren't you fighting with ZAFT if you're a coordinator…" asked Char with a certain tone of contempt.

"Because I believe this whole war is wrong. Taking the lives of other human beings, all for an ideal or someone's twisted dream, is wrong." Replied Kira.

"Kira Yamato… I hate all coordinators for what they did to Side 3… They destroyed the Republic of Zeon, and killed my family in the process. That is why I am in the Earth Federal Forces, and that is why I fight in this war…" said Char.

"Are you a part of Blue Cosmos?" asked Kira.

"No, they're just as idiotic, cruel, and tyrannical as Patrick Zala…" said Char. "I don't advocate mass killings of anyone just because they are different in any form. That would be against my own beliefs and my father's newtype ideals. My father once said that all of humanity, Naturals, Newtypes, and Coordinators could live among one another in peace and harmony."

"Your father?" asked Kira.

Char looked towards Kira in the eye through his darkened sunglasses and slowly pulled them off as he revealed his eyes to someone for the first time in a long while. Kira's eyes widened in pure shock as he realized who he was standing in front of…

"You're… Zeon Zum Daikun's son… Casval Daikun…" said Kira. "But you're Char! Char the Red Comet!"

"I know… I keep up this disguise to keep my true identity under wraps… If my true identity were to be leaked to the public, it would create an uproar and mass rioting everyone on the Earth's Sphere…" said Char as he put his glasses back on. "Do you understand why I am Char Aznable and not Casval Daikun?"

"Because the Casval Daikun you knew died with the people of Side 3…" said Kira.

"Correct…" replied Char. "You've got to keep that a secret from everyone… As a friend, do me that favor."

"Of course, Char." Said Kira as he smiled slightly.

"Can you do me another favor? Help me end this dreadful war… Fight by my side… I can't do it alone… My true goal, is to promote my father's newtype ideals of peace…" said Char sadly.

"As Kira Yamato, I hate war. But as a friend, I'll fight by your side with the Gundam." Replied Kira as he shook Char's hand.

"Kira!" yelled a certain red-haired girl as both Kira and Char turned around.

"Flay! Flay Allster!" exclaimed Kira as he and Flay embraced each other. "You're okay!"

"Oh Kira… It was horrible! My mother… Those ZAFT bastards killed my mother!" yelled Flay as she cried into Kira's chest.

Char looked at her and suddenly thought of Lacus Clyne, his best friend, perhaps, something more… Char turned to the TV and saw Lacus on a ship, singing a song to pay tribute to the ones killed in the "Bloody Valentine Incident" that started this whole war. The Earth Federation launched a nuclear missile attack on the PLANT colony Junius 7. The Federal Forces justified the attack as a "retaliation" against ZAFT's pre-emptive war against the Republic of Zeon and the destruction of Side 3. But Char knew better and knew that Blue Cosmos, an anti-coordinator organization, was somehow behind it. Char looked on at the TV, wondering if Lacus still remembered him, but then he was distracted from his thoughts. Char then saw a battle commence near the wreckage of Junius Seven between the EFSF 8th Fleet and the ship carrying Lacus Clyne, the daughter of Chairman Clyne of the PLANTs.

"That's Lacus Clyne, the Coordinator Songstress of the PLANTs. Looks like you have a crush on her, Lieutenant." Said Kira with a smirk. "She has a fiancée you know, Athrun Zala."

"I see…" said Char as he floated off towards the hangar bay.

"Hey! Char! Where you off to?" asked Kira.

"I'm going to prep my Saberfish for battle… You ought to do that same for the Gundam Unit 1…" said Char as he walked off slightly irritated.

"Hey Char, I'm sorry…" said Kira. "I shouldn't have said that to you…"

"I'm sure you are…" said Char as he continued on his way but then looked back to see Kira frowning slightly and sighed. "It's alright. I'm the one who should be sorry…"

Kira smiled as he and Char walked off towards their respective machines. But then the alarms sounded as the entire crew was put on combat status one. Back on the bridge of the White Base, sensors began to pick up the presence of an enemy ship.

"Oscar! Marker! Who is following us!" asked Murrue.

"A single ZAFT ship ma'am! It appears to be a Nazca-class cruiser, the Vesalius!" replied Oscar.

"They've sent out four mobile suits!" yelled Marker.

"Alright! Go to full combat speed! Open all mega-particle cannons, open main cannons, and open up the anti-air guns! Launch all missiles! FIRE!" ordered Murrue. "Launch Char's Saberfish and the Gundam!"

Out in space, the four mobile suits that were attacking the White Base were the Gundam Unit 2, a CGUE, and two GINN's.

"Commander Le Crueset, you didn't have to come out here." Said Athrun.

"Not so Athrun, I want to see this through. We must destroy that new ship, the Trojan Horse before it escapes into Feddie territory." Said Rau Le Crueset.

"Understood commander." Replied Athrun.

Back at the hangar, Char and Kira were busy getting their normal suits on as the mechanics were busy prepping the machines for battle. Char looked towards Kira and nodded at him.

"Follow my lead, and be careful out there Kira." Advised Char as they both climbed into their cockpits. Char's Saberfish went to the left catapult and fired up his engines.

"Char Aznable here! In Saberfish, launching!" yelled Char as his red Saberfish soared into space.

"Kira Yamato, in Gundam Unit 1, launching!" he yelled as the Gundam followed the Saberfish into the battle zone.

"Kira! There are four enemy units at 12. Ignore the ship, just concentrate on the mobile suits!" ordered Char.

"Char! Kira! Don't let those mobile suits get too close to the White Base! We still have civilians aboard!" ordered Murrue.

"I understand." Replied Kira as he locked onto his first GINN with the beam rifle and fired as he saw the GINN explode as the beam shot went through the cockpit.

"That's pretty impressive, even for a super coordinator, Kira Yamato, a one shot kill… Heh." Said Le Crueset as he saw Char shoot down a GINN of his own with the beam vulcans. "The Red Comet paired with Kira? My, this is interesting…"

"Kira! Take Gundam Unit 2, I'll take Le Crueset!" said Char as he dodged a shot from the CGUE's rifle.

"You can't possibly defeat me Char Aznable! Not in that thing!" yelled Le Crueset a he pulled out his blade and tried to slash the canopy of the Saberfish but couldn't as Char was too fast.

"You really think so!" yelled Char as he made the Saberfish do a u-turn and fire at Le Crueset's CGUE with a volley of missiles but Le Crueset somehow managed to dodge all of them and fire back with his rifle and managed to damage a small part of left wing of the Saberfish.

"Damn you!" yelled Char as he shot his beam vulcans at the arm of CGUE, completely ripping it off.

"Kira! Kira is that you in the Gundam Unit 1! It is you! That's why you won't answer me! Isn't it!" yelled Athrun as he and Kira exchanged beam saber strikes, Athrun's glowing bright neon green and Kira's red. "Why are you fighting for the Earth Forces!"

"Why are you fighting for ZAFT!" yelled Kira as he kicked Gundam Unit 2 into slight freefall but Athrun quickly adjusted his verniers and stopped and fired his vulcans at Kira but was then forced to strafe backwards as Char shot at Athrun with a volley of more missiles and beam vulcans.

"Athrun! We have to retreat! That Feddie mobile suit and the Red Comet is a little more than what we can handle right now!" ordered Le Crueset.

"Damn it… Alright. Very well commander." Said Athrun as he and Le Crueset retreated from battle.

"Kira, head back to the ship. They've retreated." Said Char. "Good work, Kira."

"Thanks Char." Said Kira as he chuckled going back to the White Base.

Char however stopped the engines of the Saberfish and sensed another presence nearby and saw a sparkle of light from nearby. It was an emergency escape pod coming from the direction of the battle between the 8th Fleet and the ZAFT ship carrying Lacus. Char took a closer look at the pod and found that it was indeed Lacus herself inside of it, and he could see that Lacus made eye contact with Char. Immediately he fired his grappling cables to tow the pod in with him towards the ship.

"Lieutenant Murrue, I've found an emergency life pod, it's Lacus Clyne, the daughter of Chairman Clyne of the PLANTs, permission to bring her in as a humanitarian gesture." Asked Char.

"Permission granted, Lieutenant Char." Replied Murrue.

Char towed the pod in with his Saberfish into the hangar bay and landed softly. The pod was then opened and revealed a girl with pink hair and a golden hair clip. Lacus then looked towards the damaged Saberfish and noticed that the pilot wasn't coming out. Out of nowhere, Murrue showed up along with Natarle and shook Lacus' hand.

"I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, the captain of this ship, the White Base, and that is Ensign Natarle Badriguel. Welcome aboard the White Base, Miss Clyne. We have picked up your life pod as a humanitarian gesture to the PLANTs. We hope you will consider it the same." Said Murrue.

"Thank you ma'am." Said Lacus as she bowed and smiled. "The pilot of that red fighter, who is it?"

"The pilot of that red Saberfish is Lieutenant JG Char Aznable. But you might know him better as the Red Comet." Said Murrue.

"I see, can you tell him to come out so that I may thank him?" asked Lacus softly.

Murrue nodded and motioned for Char to come out, but he wouldn't. A couple of mechanics went over to the canopy but couldn't get it open.

"Char! Char! Can you hear us? Open the cockpit if you can! Are you alright in there?" asked one of the mechanics.

"CHAR!" yelled Kira as he ran over towards the Saberfish.

Char could hear all of their desperate pleas as he sobbed tears long held back since the destruction of Side 3. Char could feel the warm, salty liquid flow down his cheeks from his eyes, more and more tears falling on his red normal suit.

"Why has Lacus come back to haunt me?" Char wondered as covered his face with his hands.

Whatever the answer was, Char could only think of that as he grieved in agony inside of his cockpit of the Saberfish, the only thing he could call family, friend, and close confidant ever since his family died and Lacus and him went separate ways. In this cockpit, he could forget all about his past and just be a simple soldier fighting for his survival, that is what Char could do best.

"After all, Casval Daikun did die at Side 3, right?" Or so Char thought…

The canopy was forced open by the mechanics and immediately Char was hit with a rush of questions all around.

"Lieutenant, are you all right?" asked one of them.

"Yes, I'm fine, I just had a bit of trouble opening the canopy. The damn thing was stuck. If you'll excuse me…" said Char but as then stopped by a certain pink-haired girl, Lacus as she smiled at him. Luckily for Char, he was wearing his sunglasses to cover his eyes. Kira approached Char and patted him on the back.

"Hey Casval! I see you've met the Songstress!" said Kira as he grinned.

"C-C-Casval? What did you say his name was!" asked Lacus with surprise as she looked back and fourth at Kira and Char while everyone else gasped.

"What are you talking about? I said 'Hey Char.'" Said Kira as he quickly caught himself, but knew it was too late.

"No you didn't! You just said 'Casval!'" said Lacus and looked into Char's face and slowly removed his sunglasses from his eyes and she gasped and noticed Char's golden comet pendant that she had given Casval so long ago when they parted ways. "It… it is you Casval Daikun…"

"I don't know what you're talking about… Casval Daikun died a long time ago…" said Char as he held his tears in.

"Your eyes tell the truth, but you're words lie…" said Lacus. "Oh Casval! I've been searching for you since that day Side 3 was destroyed… I've been worried about you for day in and day out wondering if I'd ever see you again Casval!"

Lacus quickly then leapt at Char and wrapped her arms around him tightly as she and Casval began to cry in each other's arms. Char could feel the warmth of her breath against his chest and it had a slight tingling sensation to him, and he felt another sensation elsewhere on his body as well, and Char thanked God that Lacus didn't notice it. He looked around him as he held onto Lacus at the rest of the crew as they were in pure shock, even Kira as he found out of he and Lacus' past relationship. Murrue then motioned for Char to come with her to her briefing room alone and Char gave Lacus a kiss on her forehead and followed orders.

"I'll be back, don't worry." Said Char as he smiled at Lacus and went followed Murrue.

The two entered the dark briefing room, only lit by the stars outside.

"So I was right about you Char, you really are Casval, the son of Zeon…" said Murrue. "Not only that, but you personally know the daughter of Siegel Clyne…"

"So what if I am Casval…" said Char. "Where exactly are you going with this?"

"Why has the son of Zeon joined the Federal Forces?" Said Murrue.

"I have a good reason Lieutenant. Because I want to end this dreadful war, and avenge my father's death. That is why I joined the Earth Federation." Said Char.

"What about Lacus?" asked Murrue.

"She's… Someone who I love, but she has nothing to do with my goals with the Federal Forces." Said Char. "Understand? My loyalty is with this ship and its crew. And for now, I am Char Aznable, nothing more, nothing less."

"I understand." Said Murrue as Char saluted her and she saluted back.

After that, Char came back out and took Lacus' hand and showed her to her quarters, but then Kira showed up.

"Hey Char, I'm kinda sorry about what happened back there. It's just kinda came out of my mouth…" said Kira.

"Think nothing of it, now go get some rest Kira. You'll need it for upcoming battles." Said Char as he walked inside of her quarters with Lacus. "So I hear you're getting married to Athrun Zala…"

"Athrun is a nice person, but it's not like I had any real say in the matter, my father and his father made this arrangement a long time ago." Said Lacus as she sighed. "If I had my way, I'd be with you Casval…"

"Please don't call me by that name anymore Lacus, that part of me died with Side 3 and my father… And that man you're marrying is the son of that bastard who killed MY father and MY homeland! The irony just kills me from the inside…" said Char as he pounded his fists into the wall. "I suppose it was my fault for not letting my escape pod be found by your father… But I had different plans… I couldn't just let ZAFT get away with destroying Side 3…"

"I know… I understand, but even so, revenge won't bring back your father or the life you used to know Casval…" said Lacus. "Understand this, I'll always love you Casval."

"I love you too, but have a good marriage with Athrun. I give you both my blessing. As for me, all I can do is grieve about it and live the only way I know how to live, as a newtype soldier…" said Char as he walked out, leaving Lacus all alone in her dark quarters to cry alone.

Just as Lacus' pod was retrieved by the White Base, Athrun saw on the TV that Lacus was missing after the battle after the memorial at Junius Seven, and orders had just come in to rescue her. Athrun sighed as he wondered what happened to his fiancée. His thoughts then drifted to Kira, who was his former-best friend and a coordinator, but he was fighting for the Earth Federation, and that confounded Athrun's mind. Just then, Rau Le Crueset relayed the order to Athrun to go out into his mobile suit and accompany him on a second attempt to destroy the White Base.

"Even though we have orders to rescue Lacus, destroying the Trojan Horse is more important." Said Le Creuset.

All Athrun could do was clench his fist and sigh. "Lacus, my love. I will rescue you, I'll promise that."

Meanwhile Lacus had ventured out of her quarters and floated her way down to the lounge with her pink Haro toy-robot followed. She then saw Kira.

"Hi, you must be Kira Yamato, right?" asked Lacus.

"Yeah. Seems like Char has taken a great liking to you." Said Kira as he snickered. "Too bad my best friend is your fiancé."

"You mean you know Athrun?" asked Lacus.

"Know him? We were the best of friends… Until we went our separate ways after the outbreak of war. I went to Side 7, but he joined ZAFT. Like Athrun and yourself, I'm a coordinator." Said Kira. "I fight because I want to protect my friends who are on this ship."

"I see… But at the same time, I didn't expect a coordinator to be the Gundam pilot, and I certainly didn't see Casval as the Saberfish pilot either." Said Lacus as she watched Flay walk into the lounge. "Much less did I expect the Federation's 'Red Comet' to be him."

"Kira! Hey!" said Flay as she tugged at Kira's arm and hugged onto him but then glared at Lacus. "Why did the White Base bring this ZAFT scum aboard!"

"But I'm not a part of ZAFT." Said Lacus and bowed to Flay, extending her hand for a handshake. "I'm Lacus Clyne, I'm pleased to meet you, Flay."

"I'm not shaking hands with a filthy coordinator like you, ZAFT scum! YOU KILLED MY FATHER AND DESTROYED HIS SHIP! COORDIANTOR SCUM! ALL OF YOU ARE DISGUSTING!" yelled Flay as she began to cry as Char walked in and ushered Lacus out of the lounge and towards a more quieter one that had a better view of the stars.

"Are you part of Blue Cosmos?" asked Kira.

"No! But I still think coordinators are disgusting!" said Flay as Kira sighed.

"I apologize on behalf of the ship… Some people on this ship hate coordinators because of the war…" said Char as he sighed.

"There isn't any battle going on right now, and yet, you have this look of sadness on your face Casval…" said Lacus.

"Because deep down I desire… something… something that I know I cannot ever have…" replied Char as he looked outside.

"Is it your life on Side 3 that you wanted back?" asked Lacus. "Or is it…"

"Yes Lacus, it's… you I want…" said Char. "But I know I can't have you for many reasons… I'm a Federation fighter pilot, I'm the son of Zeon, and most importantly, you already have a fiancée who loves you, and I suspect you feel the same toward him as well."

"You might be in for a surprise, Casval…" said Lacus as she kissed Casval softly on the cheek. "I have decided to go back to the PLANTs. I have many things to do Casval, and I know you do as well."

As Char and Lacus were having that conversation, another battle commenced near the White Base, but the White Base wasn't involved, it was between the _Vesalius_ and two Salamis-class ships, the _Yulin_ and the _Nashville_. The Vesalius had launched three GINN mobile suits and immediately shot down the Saberfish fighters that the _Yulin_ and the _Nashville_ had launched. The three GINNs began to attack the cruisers as well as the _Vesalius_ began to open fire on the _Nashville_ with its beam cannons. Within minutes, the _Nashville_ exploded and was sunk. However, the _Yulin_ managed to contact the White Base.

"This is the Yulin to the White Base! Requesting support! It's Rau Le Crueset! He's destroyed our Saberfish fighters and already sunk the Nashville!" yelled an operator from the Yulin to the bridge of the White Base as Char and Lacus entered.

"This is the White Base! We will send support, just hold on a little longer!" yelled Murrue, but it was already too late as the Vesalius made short work of the Yulin as well. "Le Crueset is going to attack the White Base…"

Just then Natarle grabbed hold of Lacus and pressed the comm channel button and broadcasted her message to the Vesalius.

"Attention ZAFT ship, we have retrieved Lacus Clyne's pod and herself as a humanitarian gesture! We will give her back to you as long as you promise to not attack this ship, understand! Or else we may be forced to take matters into our own hands with Lacus!" yelled Natarle as she finished her ultimatum.

Back on the Vesalius, Athrun could barely control his anger as Rau Le Crueset replied.

"Very well. We'll allow your ship to enter safely back into Federation territory, however, send only one mobile suit out to bring Lacus. We will only send one as well."

"Those Natural scum! This is a ransom!" yelled Athrun.

"Calm down, our mission was to retrieve Lacus Clyne, and we did just that. Get into the captured Gundam and go retrieve her." Ordered Le Crueset.

"Yes commander." Replied Athrun as he went off towards the hangar.

"Kira. Launch in Gundam Unit 1 and give Lacus to them." Ordered Murrue.

"Yes ma'am." Replied Kira.

"Lieutenant Murrue! But I can just as well deliver Lacus to them! Why not me!" barked Char but then felt Lacus put her hand on Char's shoulder to calm him down.

"Casval, calm down. Kira will get me there safely…" said Lacus sodtly as she smiled.

"It will be easier for Kira to get Lacus to them with his Gundam than your Saberfish." Said Murrue. "Please try to understand that Char."

"Yes ma'am…" replied Char as he nodded at Kira as he walked off towards the hangar.

"Try to remember what I told you before about that surprise." Said Lacus as she giggled and kissed Char's cheek. "See you soon Casval. Stay alive."

Char could only nod at Lacus as she followed Kira as he shed more tears silently. Tear by tear dropped onto the cold floor of the White Base's bridge. Murrue looked back at Char and smiled at him as Char watched Kira and Lacus launch in the Gundam Unit 1.

"Char, you might want to try getting some sleep." Said Murrue. "You look exhausted."

"But I haven't finished prepping my Saberfish for battle yet." Replied Char.

"Let the ship's mechanics take care of that for you today. Just go get some rest." Said Murrue as she smiled.

"Thank you ma'am." Replied Char as he walked off towards his quarters, wondering about what Lacus meant when she mentioned a "surprise."

Meanwhile, Athrun and Kira finally met again since the attack on Side 7. Kira opened the hatch of Unit 1 as Athrun did the same with Unit 2 as Lacus floated over into Athrun's arms.

"Kira… So it is you…" said Athrun.

"Athrun…" replied Kira as he nodded.

"Athrun, they've been good to me, let them go in peace… Please…" said Lacus. "Let's go back home."

"Kira, this isn't right. You're a coordinator! Come with us and join ZAFT with me!" asked Athrun. "You shouldn't be fighting for the Earth Forces!"

"I have friends on that ship that need to be protected Athrun…" said Kira.

"Then the next time we meet in battle, I will kill you…" said Athrun.

"And I will do the same…" responded Kira. And with that, the two parted ways once again towards their respective ships.

Back on the White Base, Char began to float mindlessly into his quarters as he fell into his bed and sighed as he looked up at the dark ceiling, pulling off his sunglasses. He wondered to himself if what he was doing as right, and if he would ever see Lacus again. He sighed as he heard Kira knock on the door.

"Hey Char! Can we talk for a minute?" asked Kira.

"Sure, come in…" said Char as he still laid in bed as Kira walked in.

"Not very roomy is it?" remarked Kira.

"It's a war Kira. One can't have such luxuries." Said Char as he rolled over on his side towards the wall.

"Are you going to stay with the White Base?" asked Kira.

"I've got nowhere else to go Kira, I'm essentially a drifter…" replied Char.

"Hey Char!" two other men chimed in. Char turned around and saw that it was Sleggar Law and his old wingman Apolly from the Battle of Luom.

"Sleggar! Apolly! You son of a bitches! You're here and alive! But how!" said Char.

"We were transferred over to this ship from the Magellan today." Replied Sleggar. "Did you think we'd die that easily? We're the Immortal 4th! Heh!"

"How's Captain Bright doing?" asked Char.

"He's doing fine, how've you been Char? This ship treating you okay?" asked Sleggar.

"Heh, could be better, but eh…" said Char. "Oh, the new guy here is Kira Yamato, he's a coordinator, the one who piloted the Gundam Unit 1."

"So you're the Gundam kid we've been hearing all about eh?" said Apolly as he laughed.

"Give the kid some slack Apolly, jeeze." Said Sleggar as he shook Kira's hand. "Nice to meet you kid, the name's Sleggar Law."

"Pleasure to meet you sir." Replied Kira.

"Hey Sleggar, we'll catch up later. I gotta talk with Apolly alone for a second. Kira, go show Sleggar to the mess hall will you?" asked Char.

"Sure thing Lieutenant." Replied Kira as he and Sleggar left for the cafeteria.

"So Apolly, how have things been without me around?" asked Char.

"It's been okay I guess, but things got a lot harder after you got transferred over here. Hey Casval, check this out." Said Apolly as he handed Char a picture of what seemed to be a field of stars and an arrow pointing towards a star. "One of our guys in the Federal Forces used a high-powered sensor camera to take a picture of that nuclear pulse. It's definitely Axis…"

"Axis… The ghost of Zeon has risen from its ashes… Haman Karn must be at least 20 now, and Gato should be 18." Said Char. "Do we know anything else? Like perhaps when they'll arrive in the vicinity of Earth's Sphere?"

"The scientists up there calculated that with their average speed and the time this picture was taken, within a few months. We don't know their exact battle strength, but we do definitely know that they have developed mobile suits, and their battle strength is enough to through off the entire course of this war between the Earth Federation and ZAFT. I heard Gihren Zabi is leading Axis now." Said Apolly.

"Gihren… he always seemed like a dictator to me when he was Prime Minister of Zeon… Something always bothered me about him… Now I know why…" said Char.

"What does this mean for us Zeons who stayed here in the Earth's Sphere and joined the Federation?" asked Apolly.

"It means Axis needs to be stopped… But for now we can't worry about that. We have to defeat ZAFT first." Said Char.

"And kill Patrick Zala, right?" added Apolly.

"Correct." Said Char. "But I also think something needs to be done about Blue Cosmos…"

"That anti-coordinator group?" asked Apolly.

"Yes, my father believed in peace between all peoples of humanity. Coordinators, newtypes, naturals, everyone." Said Char. "And they're in the way of that goal."

After two days, the White Base finally made it to Granada Lunar Base, the Earth Federation's space HQ. The White Base slowly docked into the space gate of Granada as the base mechanics began to gather around.

"So this is Granada…" Kira said as he watched the White Base land.

Moments later, the entire crew of the White Base was outside of the ship as Granada base commander Commandant Wakkein inspected the ship and the crew while Granada base mechanics were loading in two Saberfish fighters.

"We can't take any of the refugees, this is a military base. And furthermore, this ship and its mobile suits are to go directly to Jaburo HQ on earth. The Federation government will decide what to do with the refugees then." Said Wakkein as he closed his eyes. "We will provide you an escort when you perform re-entry."

"Understood Commandant Wakkein." Replied Murrue as she saluted. And with that, the White Base, along with the Magellan left the space port of Granada towards Earth side. As both the Magellan and the White Base pulled away from port, Wakkein and another senior officer watched on.

"You think they'll make it to Jaburo?" asked the officer.

"How should I know… I could only afford to send them one Magellan-class as an escort. Jaburo doesn't know what it's like out here in the front…" said Wakkein as he tossed his cap at the officer. "Rather sad times we live in, don't you think?"

Back on the White Base, things were looking pretty quiet for the time being with no other enemies sighted. However, an IFF-signal was detected which was giving off an international distress signal.

"Captain, an emergency life pod is calling for help, it is requesting permission to come aboard the White Base ma'am." Said Oscar.

"Let the pod come aboard, maintain present speed and course." Replied Murrue as the pod landed into the third hangar of the White Base. Kira immediately went over to see who it was and saw that it was a blonde-haired girl that he had seen back at Side 7.

"Cagalli!" exclaimed Kira.

"Kira!" yelled Cagalli as the two hugged each other. "I was getting worried that something happened to you during that attack on Side 7…"

"I'm fine, but I was getting worried about you however." Said Kira as he smiled.

"You're a Federal Forces pilot!" said Cagalli as she looked upon Kira's rank Earth Federation rank pin, Chief Petty Officer.

"Yeah, I figured if I want to end this war, then I'll have to fight in it." Said Kira. "And I have friends on this ship who I need to protect. But I won't do it alone, I have my fellow White Base pilots, Apolly who pilots the orange Saberfish, Lieutenant Sleggar who pilots that blue Saberfish over there, and then there's Char who pilots the red Saberfish."

"Char? You mean the Char Aznable, the Red Comet!" exclaimed Cagalli.

"Yeah, that's him alright." Said Kira. "Come on, I'll show you to your quarters for the time being."

"Alright…" said Cagalli as the two went off down a hall of the ship.

Universal Century 0079, September 24… Aprilius One Colony, PLANTs

"To the citizens of the PLANTs, to all coordinators! We must win this war! Turn your hatred into energy and together we will CRUSH the Earth Federation and the Natural scum!" barked Patrick Zala on the television as Athrun watched in the lobby of the Siegel Clyne estate mansion, waiting for the arrival of his fiancée, Lacus Clyne, or so he thought. Athrun quickly stood up as he smiled at Lacus who was wearing her usual beautiful purple-white dress with her toy robot, Haro trailing her closely, spurting out random obnoxious but funny phrases. Athrun attempted to give Lacus a warm embrace but Lacus resisted as she looked on at Athrun with contempt.

"Did you really men what you said to Kira back there when you took me back?" asked Lacus.

"Kira is the enemy. Of course I meant what I said!" replied Athrun. "He's fighting for the Earth Forces for crying out loud!"

"What do you believe in or fight for Athrun? The medals you get awarded for killing! Or your father's order!" yelled Lacus.

"But Lacus, I'm only doing what's best for all coordinators…" said Athrun.

"Get out Athrun, I never want to speak to you again! Get out! We're through!" yelled Lacus as she ran back up the stairs crying towards her room. And with that, Athrun started in the opposite direction towards the space dock. Some time passed as he finally walked up the stairs towards the space port where the Vesalius was getting re-supplied.

"That Kira… He's poisoned her mind… and that Red Comet stole her from me… I will kill them both…" said Athrun as he boarded the Vesalius.

"Athrun, it seems the Trojan Horse is heading towards earth with only one Magellan-class ship escorting it. If we can attack them right before they attempt re-entry, we will be able to destroy them. Get ready, we'll be approaching the battle zone soon." Said Rau Le Crueset.

"Yes commander…" replied Athrun as he looked up at the stolen Gundam Unit 2.

"Ma'am! Six enemy units from a Nazca-class ship, most likely the Vesalius, are approaching us and they will be in effective range in 20 seconrds." Said Oscar.

"Who can we send out?" asked Murrue.

"We can send out the Gundam, Char's Saberfish, and Apolly's Saberfish as well." Replied Marker.

"Very well, have them launch at one!" ordered Murrue.

Back at the mobile suit hangar, Char, Apolly, and Kira were ready to get into their cockpits and launch. Char looked towards Apolly and smirked as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be like old times eh Apolly?" remarked Char.

"Heh, as always Lieutenant." Said Apolly as they all got into their respective machines.

"Apolly! Kira! Stay close to me, understand?" ordered Char.

"Yes sir." Replied both Apolly and Kira as they all launched from the White Base's catapault towards the hard vacuum of space.

"Four GINN's at 1:30 and another group of two at 6, watch yourselves!" said Char as he began to lock onto his first target, and launched a volley of missiles at one of the GINN's and watched it explode. Kira used the multi-targeting feature of the Gundam's beam rifle and shot down the other 3 GINN's.

"Heh! Nice one coordinator!" remarked Apolly. "Hey Char! The second group are trying to tail us! We've got less than 5 minutes before we re-enter the earth's atmosphere!"

"I know! Concentrate on Gundam Unit 2! Kira! Go at it from above, me and Apolly will go below!" said Char as he turned his Saberfish downwards with Apolly's as the fired a volley of missiles and beam vulcans at Unit 2 as Le Crueset fired at Kira with his 76mm machine gun of the CGUE. Just then Le Crueset pulled out a heat blade and charged at Kira who was utterly unprepared for this sudden high-speed melee attack, Apolly quickly took notice and charged in between them with his Saberfish to protect Kira.

"KIRA! WATCH OUT!" yelled Apolly as Le Crueset slashed the cockpit of Apolly's Saberfish, breaking and shattering the glass canopy into many pieces floating about.

"APOLLY! NO!" yelled Char.

"Lieutenant Apolly!" exclaimed Kira as he watched his comrade die right in front of his eyes as the orange Saberfish exploded. Kira quickly turned his attention to Le Crueset as he screamed with tears floating about. "MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER!"

Kira yelled this over and over as he tried to slash Le Crueset's CGUE with the beam saber, managing to slice off a good portion of the left leg and the right arm of the CGUE.

"Damn! He's too powerful!" exclaimed Le Crueset as he retreated back towards the Vesalius.

However Kira was not through yet as his rage flowed through his blood as he faced Athrun's Gundam Unit 2 and charged at him with blind speed and rage as he knocked Athrun into free fall.

"Kira! Damn you!" Athrun yelled as he stopped Unit 2 from falling any further and pulled out a green beam saber and began to strike back as he fired his vulcans at Unit 1. Kira responded with a shot from his beam rifle and pulled out his beam saber as well to counter Athrun. But both were knocked back as the fight turned to a draw. A ZAFT re-entry capsule quickly picked up Unit 2 along with Athrun as they descended.

"Kira! We have to get back to the White Base or else we'll burn up!" yelled Char as his Saberfish made his way back to the White Base while towing Apolly's damaged Saberfish with him.

"Yes sir…" replied Kira as the Gundam followed suit and landed back into the hangar of the White Base.

"Attention Magellan! The White Base will not perform re-entry until all enemy units have subsided!" yelled Murrue.

"No! You're orders are to make it to Jaburo HQ!" yelled Captain Bright Noa of the Magellan. "We'll take care of that enemy ship for you, just go on ahead! Don't worry about us Lieutenant Murrue."

"Good luck sir." Replied Murrue as she saluted as the White Base began to re-enter the earth's atmosphere as she saw the Magellan take heavy hits from the Vesalius but the Magellan fired all of it's gun turrets back at the Vesalius, pretty soon they were out of visual sensors as they began to brace for re-entry impact. After about ten minutes, they finally made it through the gravity well and was floating about in the sky near the desert.

"That Rau Le Crueset… He really took us for one hell of a ride… We're in Africa, ZAFT controlled territory…" said Natarle.

"I know, but we have to get to Jaburo somehow, keep trying to contact them, we need supplies!" yelled Murrue.

Meanwhile, Sleggar, Char, and Kira were grieving over the loss of their comrade, Lieutenant Junior Grade Apolly. Char wept the most as Sleggar placed a bottle of liquor and Apolly's uniform on Apolly's bed. With a comrade gone and the White Base in the middle of ZAFT controlled airspace, morale was at an all-time low… But little did they know, they would soon face a new enemy…

"So, Rau Le Crueset couldn't destroy Gundam Unit 1 or that new ship? Well boys, guess we better finish the job! Get the Lesseps moving! We're going to track down the Trojan Horse!" ordered a tall brunette man.

Meanwhile, Athrun's capsule made it through re-entry and was fast on the Trojan Horse's tail and were preparing for another sortie against them…

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Who will survive? Please review! Thanks! 


	2. Chapter II: Soldiers of Sorrow

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Gundam SEED, Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam, or Gundam 0083, so don't sue.

A/N: I'd like to thank all of the people who took time to review my story! Please keep em' coming!

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- Chapter II: Soldiers of Sorrow -

Universal Century 0079, September 30… Principality of Zeon's Axis Asteroid Base, Asteroid Belt…

"So cold… How long must we wait like this…" Haman said to herself.

A woman with purple-reddish hair looked on outside at the cold black sea of stars known as outer space. She put her hand to the window, and as she thought previously, icy cold. She sighed as her eyes narrowed in determination as she just learned of Gihren Zabi's death. She now led a demoralized bunch of Zeon soldiers on an abandoned asteroid base. It was a heavy burden to her, but it was one she was willing to take. After all, the renegade Zeons developed mobile suits of their own as Axis quickly sped towards the Earth's Sphere. She wished the trip went faster than just two and a half months, but she knew the nuclear pulse thrusters were at their maximum output rate. She wanted just like everyone else at Axis to reclaim their homeland and destroy the PLANTs for revenge against destroying Side 3 and killing their leader Zeon Daikun in the process. But Haman wanted to return faster for another reason, Casval Daikun. The boy who she had been friends with since their childhood and secretly loved and had a deep crush on, bordering on the obsessive. But Lacus Clyne had gotten in the way of that since Char instead poured his feelings and his heart onto the songstress.

"That filthy coordinator slut… She doesn't deserve him… What does she have that I don't!" yelled Haman as she threw yet another fit. "I swear to you Casval, you belong to Zeon, and most importantly, you belong to ME."

And with that Haman walked out towards a corridor were Anavel Gato was waiting. He smirked at her as he leaned against the wall.

"Thinking about Casval again eh Haman?" remarked Anavel. "We'll get their soon enough, and when we do, we'll retrieve Casval so you two can rule Zeon together."

"Thanks for the sentiment Gato, but I'm fine. Come on, we have to go address the citizens, Gihren Zabi did die after all… His own ignorant arrogance got him killed. That fool…" said Haman.

As soon as Haman wearing her usual black robe outfit with her Zeon Princess crown on her head approached the main ceremony hall, the soldiers all stood at attention and cheered and saluted.

"SIEG ZEON! SIEG ZEON! SIEG ZEON!" yelled the Zeon soldiers.

Haman smirked at the crowd as she signaled for them to calm down as she began to speak.

"It has been ten years since the day we were forced to migrate to this asteroid that we know call home. Ten years my loyal Zeon soldiers, since our homes were destroyed by those vile PLANTs, those disgusting coordinators! They tore open our colonies, gassed our own citizens to death with G3 poison gas, and killed our president, Zeon Zum Daikun in the process. Despite his peaceful demands to avoid war with the coordinator scum, they carried out an unprovoked attack on the Republic of Zeon, killing thousands of Zeon innocents! I ask you all, what did the nations of the Earth Federation and its puppet state, the Orb Union do to try to assist Zeon? I tell you people, NOTHING! It has become clear that Zeon must defend itself and reclaim its glory without assistance! With our newly developed mobile suits, we will destroy those hourglass colonies like they did to our colonies! And together, all Zeons shall unite and destroy this blasphemy known as coordinators and bring about the age of the newtype!" yelled Haman. "VICTORY FOR ZEON!"

"VICTORY FOR ZEON!" chanted the soldiers as they saluted Haman Karn, the new leader of Axis.

Universal Century 0079, October 2… African Continent…

The White Base had just recently completed re-entry and was in the process of being re-supplied by a remote Medea Squadron deployed from Jaburo HQ directly. They began the extensive overhaul of repairs, re-supplying food, ammunition, and maintenance of the Gundam and the Saberfish fighters.

"Jaburo has sent us to also take the refugees with us, along with the combat data of the Gundam Unit 1 and Char Aznable's Saberfish. The Federation is facing some tough times, so re-supplying will be even harder in the future. I hope you all understand that there are people at Jaburo that care about this ship and its crew." Said a red-haired woman wearing a tan Federal Forces uniform for officers.

"Yes ma'am, Lieutenant Matilda." Said Murrue as she saluted.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the ship Kira was trying to repair an old green Haro robot which looked a lot like Lacus' pink one except for its color. He then pulled out a few wires and replaced a few burnt out chips.

"Hello Amuro!" stated the Green Haro.

"Who's Amuro?" asked Kira curiously.

"I'm surprised you don't know who he is Kira. Amuro Ray is the man that designed the Gundams and is the CEO of Anaheim Electronics. I know him personally since Amuro and I went to the same prep school together back on Side 3." Replied Char. "He also invented the Haro toy robot. The one that Lacus has is a special model."

"Kira! Kira! Kira!" said Haro as it jumped up and down, flapping its ears. But just then it turned to Char. "Casval! Hello! You look well Casval Daikun!"

Char looked on at the Haro incredulously. How did the toy know his name without even saying it before? He stared long and hard as he suddenly remembered having a green Haro that Amuro gave him as a birthday present.

"Kira, where did you get this Haro from?" asked Char.

"I found it with a bunch of old space debris from Side 3 while I still lived on Side 7… I meant to fix it before but I never really got around to it until now." Replied Kira.

"This Haro belongs to me. Amuro gave this to me as a present when we were friends in prep school. I was about 9 around then." Said Char. "That's why it knows my name. I thought it was lost with Side 3…"

Just then an explosion rocked the White Base and it turned out to be Athrun Zala and the Gundam Unit 2. The White Base fired it's mega particle cannons at Unit 2 along with its array of anti-air guns as Char, Sleggar, and Kira launched in their Saberfishes and the Gundam to counter Athrun.

"Gundam Unit 1! Kira! I'll kill you!" yelled Athrun as he fired his vulcans at Kira while pulling out his beam saber preparing for a slash attack.

"Athrun!" Kira yelled back as he dodged and pulled out his own beam saber as the two sabers met, sparks flying all over the place.

"Kira! Sleggar! Listen to me, this is a good opportunity to disarm Unit 2's nuclear warhead and destroy that atomic bazooka! Chances are the pilot of that machine isn't too used to combat under gravity so we can use that to our advantage. Sleggar and I will close in on Unit 2 from different directions! Kira, close in on Unit 2 from behind and destroy that atomic bazooka so ZAFT won't be able to use it against us!"

"Yes sir!" both chimed in as Sleggar and Char went opposite directions but then turned back around firing missiles and their beam vulcans at Athrun. So far their plan was working as Athrun was very confused and stood still trying to dodge the shots from Sleggar's blue Saberfish and Char's red one using its massive shield. Meanwhile Kira closed in on Unit 2 from behind as planned as he readied his beam saber and forced Unit 1 to jump high into the air.

"Athrun! You won't hurt anymore innocents you hear me!" yelled Kira as he slashed the atomic bazooka in two, watching the weapon fall to the ground but the warhead still in the air. Quickly Kira used the beam rifle and locked on and fired at the warhead, watching a brilliant explosion high in the air.

"Good work Kira! We've successfully destroyed the atomic bazooka and the warhead! Let's retreat back to the White Base before anymore reinforcements arrive." Ordered Char as Sleggar and Kira followed suit.

"Yes sir, thank you Lieutenant…" said Kira, very exhausted from all of the battles he had to fight up to that point. Finally they had all landed back into the White Base's mobile suit hangar. Char and Sleggar got out from their cockpits of their Saberfish fighters, but Kira had yet to come out of his cockpit of the Gundam. Murrue approached the hangar and took a lift so she could access the cockpit door, and opened it to see a sleeping Kira and giggled.

"Don't worry you guys, Kira just has some new recruit burn out, he'll be just fine." Said Murrue. She looked on at Kira and suddenly remembered how cute he looked when they first met on Side 7 during the ZAFT attack. Looking at him reminded Murrue of her former boyfriend, a fighter pilot, who had died at the start of the war. She sighed but then suddenly blushed as she found herself in awe of Kira's well-built body. Kira was 17, and she was 20, Murrue figured this was normal. She smiled and leaned in closer to give the sleeping Kira a gentle kiss on his forehead as she inhaled the lilac-shampoo scent of Kira's hair. And with that, she took Kira into her arms and took the lift back down.

"Ensign Natarle, you're in charge of the ship for a while." Ordered Murrue.

"Yes Lieutenant." Replied Natarle as she made her way back to the bridge.

Murrue continued on her way down towards Kira's quarters and walked into the room as the door opened. She gently placed Kira onto the bed, placing the covers over his body as she joined Kira in the bed as well, wrapping her arms around Kira, holding him even closer to her body.

"Oh Kira…" said Murrue as she sighed and slowly felt her eyelids close.

Elsewhere Char and Sleggar were conversing about old times and the Battle of Luom on the bridge. Ensign Natarle sat at the captain's seat as she leaned on her right arm as she stared off into space while Oscar and Marker were busy at trying to detect enemies. Just then alarms began to sound as Oscar scrambled.

"Ma'am, I'm detecting a Lesseps-class land battleship heading towards our right flank, I'm also picking up another battleship, but it's not in the database. Hold on! I'm also picking up 4 mobile suits, 3 GINN OCHER's and 1 BuCUE!" yelled Oscar.

"Sorry I'm late!" said Murrue as she ran in somewhat flustered and took over the bridge. "Have Kira and Char launch! Have Sleggar on standby!"

Immediately Kira, Char, and Sleggar ran down the halls and towards the hangar to their respective machines.

"Char, Kira! Fend off the enemy units! They're 5 of them! Be careful Kira…" said Murrue.

With that, Kira and Char launched in the Gundam and red Saberfish. The Gundam's eyes lit up bright neon green as the Gundam landed onto the ground and saw 5 figures on the hot desert sand of the African Sahara while Char's Saberfish soared high above in the air.

"Kira! I'll take on the four-legged mobile suit, take care of the rest!" ordered Char.

"Got ya Lieutenant!" replied Kira as he aimed his beam rifle at one of the brownish-desert colored GINN OCHER's and watched it explode, kicking up sand in the battle zone. Meanwhile Char's Saberfish dove in and shot a volley of missiles and beam vulcans at the BuCUE but just watched it quickly evade backwards.

"For a four-legged mobile suit, that thing is pretty damn fast… But this Saberfish is faster!" yelled Char as he did a u-turn and fired another volley of missiles while evading the BuCUE's dual beam cannons. Kira quickly finished off another GINN OCHER using the head vulcans while slashing another in half using the beam saber.

"Incredible! That new Feddie mobile suit just destroyed 3 GINN OCHER's! I wonder if it's the mobile suit's ability… or is it really the talent of the pilot… It looks like a White Demon to me…" said Andrew Waltfeld, commander of the ZAFT African Front. "Damn, I also have to deal with the Red Comet too!"

"That four-legged mobile suit might be fast, but I won't let it get away!" screamed Kira as he fired his beam rifle but missed each time as Waltfeld dodged each shot and fired back with a volley of his own as he pulled out the BuCUE's beam saber and charged in for a melee attack. Kira in quick response pulled his back out as well but flinched at the speed of Waltfeld's piloting.

"Got you right where I want you!" yelled Char as he fired his beam vulcans, disabling the dual beam cannons of the BuCUE but the engines of Char's Saberfish were soon hit by Waltfeld's beam saber. "How could I! I've been hit!"

"So much for the Red Comet, but I better retreat for now!" said Waltfeld as he retreated from battle.

"LIEUTENANT CHAR! NO!" yelled Kira as he watched Char's Saberfish go up in flames and quickly plummet to the ground in another explosion. "Char…"

Kira's sadness suddenly overtook his mind as he cried and sobbed, tears streaming down like a waterfall. But then Kira felt his rage greatly increase within him and consumed him like no other as he fired the beam rifle repeatedly towards where Waltfeld's BuCUE had fled. "MURDERER! I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Kira! Get back aboard the White Base immediately! There's a sand storm up ahead!" ordered Murrue over the comm. link.

"But the Lieutenant… We can't just leave him here!" yelled Kira as he cried.

"We have no choice but to look for him later, if he's alive, he'll survive." Said Murrue.

"Yes ma'am…" said Kira as the Gundam flew back up into the sky and back onto the hangar bay of the White Base.

As the White Base passed the wreckage of Char's Saberfish, the entire crew saluted as Kira and Sleggar sobbed in the mobile suit hangar with flowers adorning where Char's fighter usually was. All the while news reports were all around the world that Char had been shot down by Andrew Waltfeld. For ZAFT, it was an important political victory, for the Earth Federation, it was a loss of an ace pilot. But for the crew of the White Base, Char was simply missing, and would soon be found, alive…

"To the White Base crew, though Char is not with us right now, he is alive. We must have faith until the day we find him alive in this desert. We will not allow ZAFT to get away with this act! We will avenge the Red Comet!" yelled Murrue over the speaker. "As a result, Char Aznable has now been promoted to full Lieutenant, and all the other pilots have been promoted one rank."

But for a certain pink-haired songtress, this meant the collapse of her own world with the loss of the one who she held so dear to herself. Lacus could not help but sob and wail out crying in sadness as she saw the news report.

"No! It can't be! Not Casval! Not my Casval!" she yelled out as she cried banging against the wall, her Haro floating about silently. Just as Char's green Haro floated around asking for its owner.

All the while in the hot, sandy desert in the middle of a storm, Char was buried under his parachute as he tried to escape the tangled mess. After some tries, he eventually did and looked at his wreckage of what used to be his Saberfish in complete flames.

"Damn it… What a mess…" remarked Char. "I was really careless that time…"

He sighed as he put his sunglasses back on and continued to walk in the hot sand in the storm. He then spotted what looked like another land battleship, not the Lesseps, but another one, but it didn't look like it belonged to ZAFT. Neither did the mobile suits, tanks, or the soldiers guarding it. One of the mobile suits were green, another was completely dark blue with an antennae on its head, and it was carrying a whip, a large heat saber, and a mounted shield on its arm. Another 2 mobile suits were purplish in color and looked very large and heavily armored, armed with a giant bazooka and a heat saber. Char was then stopped by 4 soldiers dressed in brownish-green uniforms with green helmets. The insignia adorned on their uniform looked familiar to Casval.

"Halt! Identify yourself!" yelled one of the soldiers.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Char Aznable of the Earth Federal Forces. I come bearing no harm to you. I just wish to know where I am." Said Char.

"Char Aznable? The Red Comet?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Yes." Replied Char. "I know who you people are, you're soldiers of the Republic of Zeon. You're simply an advance guerilla taskforce sent here by Axis to fight ZAFT."

"But… how did you know?" asked one of the soldiers as he pointed his gun away from Char.

"Because I am also someone else you might know very well… Here's a hint, Zeon Daikun…" said Char as he pulled off his shades and revealed his blue eyes.

"Casval Daikun! You're Zeon's son! But what are you doing here!" asked the Zeon soldier incredulously.

"I joined the Federal Forces after the destruction of our homeland at Side 3… I got shot down earlier by a four-legged mobile suit, BuCUE." Said Char. "Is there a way I can contact my ship, the White Base?"

"Just follow us back to the Gallop. Commander Ramba Ral will be able to better help you out. And welcome back to Zeon, your excellency. Your presence is truly an honor Casval." Said the soldier as Char nodded back at him and followed him all the way to the Gallop, all of the sudden a slightly portly, but active old man walked out from the battleship and spotted Casval.

"Well I'll be damned! It's little Casval! The one who I used to play with and babysit while your father was away on business on Side 3! Heh!" yelled out Ramba Ral as he hugged Char.

"It's been a long time Ramba Ral." Replied Char as he hugged his old friend back. "So, did that old Desert Fox Andrew Waltfeld get the better of ya? You're in the Federal Forces right, Char Aznable?"

"Yes to both… I needed the disguise to keep my true identity under wraps." Replied Char. "It seems you all re doing well."

"Yea, Axis sends supplies every once in a while so we can continue fighting. Just recently did Zeon develop mobile suits. That green one there is called a Zaku II F2 Type. That purple one is called a Rick-Dom II, and the blue one over there is mine, called a Gouf. It seems we have three pilots, but 4 mobile suits…"

"You suppose I could pilot that other Dom?" asked Char.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Remarked Ramba Ral.

"You paint that Dom Tropen red and black, and let me contact my ship, the White Base, you got a deal." Replied Char.

"Okay. I don't see why not, we're neutral with the Federation, so they won't harm us." Replied Ramba Ral.

"Thanks." Said Char.

"Don't mention it Casval. It's my duty to assist you as a Zeon." Replied Ramba Ral. "I have a spare bed inside, you can rest in there if you'd like until dinner is ready."

Char nodded and walked inside. He attempted to contact the White Base but couldn't since the ZAFT forces spread their N-Jammers all over the area to block communications. He sat down on the bed and immediately saw a technical manual on a disc on something called: "Minovsky Physics." He read on and saw that a Minovsky Particle could potentially cancel out N-Jammer frequencies and render all electronically-guided weapons completely useless as well as any communications if the Minovsky Particle density was too thick. Char quickly put this disc into his pocket and laid back down.

"So this is what Axis has been up to all of these years, building up it's own mobile suit forces… Haman… you deluded fool…" said Char as he rolled off to sleep as he heard the radio play one of Lacus Clyne's songs, "Lacus…"

_The night is wavering in the water_

_The greening shore is so still and silent_

_That it is painful_

Char began to have a dream about a flashback to the past when he and Lacus were playing with each other when Char had visited Lacus's homeland back on the PLANTs. The PLANTs in Casval's opinion, were more beautiful at night than at Side 3 since Side 3 was a closed-type Island 3 colony, so they didn't get to see the night sky from there. But at the PLANTs, the stars shined ever so brightly, twinkling colors of blue and white.

_If only I could wait_

_For a beautiful dawn_

_With a pure heart..._

Casval looked into Lacus's lovely blue eyes that seemed to shine along with the stares as she smiled back at Casval, stroking his gentle blonde hair. Slowly but surely, their lips moved closer together as they joined for a deep, passionate, kiss.

_Who told me that_

_There is a land without any conflicts_

_Beyond the dark seas and skies?_

_No one can reach that land,_

_Or perhaps it only exists in someone's heart_

_A melody that can quench the thirst_

_Of the land that calms the waters' flow_

_Even if it does not exist anywhere right now, _

_I will come to possess it_

_Always, someday, for sure_

As they both pulled from the kiss for the lack of oxygen intake, both Casval and Lacus blushed as they looked away but grinned as Casval tackled Lacus softly and made a noise that resembled a tiger or a lion. Lacus giggled at Casval and poked his nose and Casval pinned Lacus to the ground as his fingers were intertwined with Lacus's as they joined for another kiss…

_Let the token of water be in my hands_

_Even after engulfing all the flames,_

_It still continues to flow, gently and broadly_

_I will reach its tranquility_

_Always, someday, for sure_

_With your hand in mine..._

With that, he's dream was soon interrupted by a loud yelling from the radio. Char was slightly startled and disoriented until he figured out it was a young woman giving a speech to all of the remaining Zeon at Axis and on Earth. He sighed and then frowned as his eyes rolled. He knew Haman Karn well since his father and her father, Admiral Maharaja Karn were good friends. Char was friends with Haman as well, to a certain extent… He saw both her and her father has power hungry people, and indeed, they were, even Char's father knew that as he tried to appease there desires. Char also knew one other thing, that Haman secretly loved Char and wanted him. But since Lacus got in the way, Haman couldn't. He also knew that Haman probably wanted to kill Lacus, but Char vowed that no harm would befall his pink-haired songstress, regardless of her marrying the son of his enemy… Especially not from Haman Karn… His eyes rolled towards the radio as Haman said these following words…

"Loyal soldiers of Neo Zeon! Our triumphant return draws nearer! We will retake our rightful glory and create a new homeland! We will smash those hourglasses and kill all the coordinators in their own cold blood! Those dirty scum who destroyed our homes and forced us into this cold rock! In honor of Zeon Daikun! SIEG ZEON!" yelled Haman.

"Don't delude yourself Haman, my father would never preach the blasphemies coming from your mouth…" said Char as his eyes began to close. He then saw Ramba Ral come inside.

"Hey Casval, dinner is ready. I see you heard Haman's speech… Yea, I don't like her too much either… She has no right to be using your father's name like that…" said Ramba Ral.

"That's life I suppose…" said Char as he got up from the bed and followed Ramba Ral to the mess area as they all sat down to eat. But all of the sudden, Char saw a familiar face. "Roberto!"

"Char!" yelled Roberto as he ran up and tackled him.

"Where have you been all this time!" asked Char.

"Places…" said Roberto as he snickered and laughed.

Char and Roberto laughed as they both got up and got back on the dinner table and began eating their semi-acceptable dinner. It was pile of beef-potato stew along with a bread roll and a cup of water.

"How's life been treating you?"

"You should know…" Said Char.

"It could always be worse!" said Roberto and Char as they laughed.

"So how's Apolly doing?" asked Roberto.

Char sighed and picked up another spoonful of the stew as he closed his eyes. Roberto looked at him in disbelief…

"No, Char… no… Is he…" said Roberto as Char nodded.

"When Apolly joined the White Base, he died protecting the Gundam pilot during re-entry… He was killed by Rau Le Crueset…" said Char as he poked around at his stew.

"Damn…" said Roberto as he put his spoon down.

"It wasn't Kira's fault either, there was nothing we could have done…" said Char.

"I know…" said Roberto as he got up and sat down on a box as the night sky began to appear as Char went over to him.

"I'm sorry… He was a good friend to us all… His death affected me greatly as well, but this is what war is like… Filled with nothing but grief, sorrow, and hatred…" replied Char as he looked over to his new Rick-Dom II being painted in his red and black colors…

Meanwhile the White Base had touched down near a secluded location the Sahara Desert to be re-supplied by the Medea Squadron. Along with their much-needed supplies, the White Base crew also received another Saberfish fighter. During this time, Cagalli also began training to become a pilot aboard the White Base and as a result was taken under Sleggar's wing, which he was more than happy to oblige.

"Hey Cagalli, we better get going. We've been sent out to find Char out there… Let's hope we're not too late…" said Kira as Cagalli nodded and quickly followed Kira into the buddy as they drove off into the desert sand. Many hours passed as they continued to search for their fallen Lieutenant until finally they came upon the ruins of Char's Saberfish fighter in the sand, however some parts were still in flames.

"Oh no… Char… he really is dead…" said Cagalli as she looked away.

"No, wait… Char is alive, he has to be! The seat of the Saberfish is missing, and the canopy was opened! Look!" exclaimed Kira. "But wherever he went, any guess would be as good as mine. The desert storm must have covered Char's tracks."

"You've got a point there Kira. But we're almost out of fuel, I think we should stop and rest in that town over there." Said Cagalli. "Good thing we're in civilian clothing."

With that Kira nodded as the buggy speed off towards a nearby town. As they re-fueled the car, Kira and Cagalli came across a restaurant, and seeing as how they've been searching for hours, they decided to stop in and get something to eat. But they were about to get a lot more than just some food as they saw an entire group of ZAFT troops, and their commander Andrew Waltfeld. To Waltfeld's left, was his lover, Aisha, who was wearing a beautiful white and blue dress and had long, bluish-black hair. Cagalli soon cued Kira for both to leave until Andrew smiled and laughed at them both.

"Do we intimidate you all? That wasn't my intention. Heh. The name is Andrew Waltfeld, what's yours kid?" asked Waltfeld.

"Kira Yamato, sir." Replied Kira.

"Cagalli Yula Atha…" replied Cagalli.

"Sit down with us, the meal is on me." Said Andrew as he smiled as Kira and Cagalli sat down as the waiter brought out a platter of sauces and a plate full of meat kabobs.

"Thanks, Mr. Waltfeld." Said Kira as he grabbed one of the kabobs and stared at the many sauces that were available.

"Try the chili sauce Kira!" suggested Cagalli.

"Try the yogurt sauce kid, it's so much more better." Suggested Waltfeld as they both began to eat.

"Hey, you were right, haha." Replied Cagalli and Kira, but right when Kira was about to go for his fourth, five gunmen entered the restaurant and began firing at the ZAFT soldiers and immediately the ZAFT soldiers fired back as Andy kicked the table over to take cover and save Kira and Cagalli.

"Kill all coordinators for the preservation of our blue and pure world!" shouted one of the gunmen as he fired his rifle.

Immediately Kira pulled out his Federal Forces issued pistol and fired back at the gunman that spoke and shot him to death as Andy shot two others. The remaining gunmen fled the restaurant as Cagalli tried to brush off the mess that was on her clothes.

"Thanks for saving us Mr. Waltfeld, but we should really get going." Said Kira.

"But at least let me give your dear friend a change of clothing." Said Aisha as she smiled.

"Thanks but I'm okay." Said Cagalli as she smiled back nervously.

"But I insist, it's not far from here." Replied Aisha.

"Okay…" replied Cagalli.

After about 20 minutes, they finally arrived at Andrew Waltfeld's desert base. Cagalli followed Aisha into a lavish building, while Kira followed Andy.

"Who were those men that fired at us Mr. Waltfeld?" asked Kira.

"Those terrorists were a part of Blue Cosmos, that anti-coordinator group. If not for them, this war would have never started. It's only because the Earth Federation's corruption that Blue Cosmos controls them and make this dreadful war go on." Said Andy.

"In a way, I can sort of agree with that." Said Kira. "But I think it's simply misunderstanding and misplaced hatred on both sides… It's really stupid when you think about it."

"Heh, that's awful smart talk coming from a Federation Forces officer. And from what I can tell, you're a coordinator." Said Andy.

"But how did you know!" asked a shocked Kira.

"Your pistol that you used during that gunfight, that's a standard Federal Forces pistol issued to all soldiers." Replied Andy as he chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't hold you or your friend hostage, but just remember, the next time we meet, it'll be as enemies."

"I understand…" said Kira as he saw Cagalli in a beautiful new white dress, which she looked quite uncomfortable in. Kira turned to Waltfeld and saluted him and jumped onto the buggy with Cagalli following close behind.

"So long Kira Yamato!" yelled Andrew as Kira and Cagalli drove off.

"They were soldiers of the Federation, which means the Trojan Horse is to our north." Said Waltfeld. "Prepare to attack, alert our units!"

"Yes sir!" exclaimed Martin, Waltfeld's trusted officer.

Meanwhile, Ramba Ral's Zeon Guerilla Unit was on the move as well, tracking Andy Waltfeld's every move.

"So it seems he's moving in to attack… Let's mirror him!" ordered Ramba Ral as the Gallop, two Cui tanks, 3 Magella Tanks began to follow Waltfeld's forces. Ramba Ral did well to keep out of sight but he ended up spotting the White Base above.

"This is Char Aznable to the White Base, over." Said Char over the comm link.

"Char! Is that you Lieutenant!" yelled Murrue. "Are you alright! Where have you been!"

"I'm quite alright, the Zeon remnants saved me.

"This is Captain Ramba Ral of the Zeon African Liberation Front contacting the Earth Federal Forces ship, the White Base. We wish forge an alliance with you all and fight ZAFT together! This is just as much as our fight as it is yours!" yelled Ramba Ral. "Don't forget that they destroyed our homeland!"

"We accept your wish for an alliance. The enemy is right up ahead, one Lesseps-class and two Petrie-class land battleships. 10 GINN OCHER's, 4 ZuOOT's, and 1 LaGOWE mobile suit." Informed Murrue.

With that Ramba Ral gave a grunt and a salute and walked towards the mobile suit hangar of the Gallop as he entered his blue Gouf mobile suit while Roberto entered his Zaku and Char in his red Rick-Dom II.

"Alright boys, do our fellow citizens proud! Victory for Zeon!" yelled Ramba Ral as he launched with Char and Roberto following close.

"Victory for Zeon!" chanted both Roberto and Char as they landed onto the sand with the Gallop firing at the right flank of the Lesseps. The White Base opened its main gun and its mega-particle cannons and opened fire at one of the Petrie-class land battleships and completely destroyed it.

"You ZAFT scum! You'll pay for killing all of those innocents at Side 3!" yelled Ramba Ral as he sliced right through one of the GINN OCHER's with the Gouf's heat saber and completely fried a ZuOOT with his heat rod.

"Heh! Gotcha ya coordinator!" yelled Roberto as he caught two GINN OCHER's with his missile pod. Meanwhile Char began to target two ZuOOT's who were closely bunched up and fired his powerful 880mm Raketen Bazooka and watched both of them explode on impact. He then concentrated fire and a group of three GINN OCHER's and destroyed them as well, slicing through another GINN OCHER. The White Base had also launched their forces as well, with Sleggar and Cagalli in Saberfish fighters. Kira then spotted the LaGOWE and suddenly realized who he was fighting as he dodged the shots of its beam cannons which ended up destroying two of the magella attack tanks.

"It's Andy and Aisha, it's gotta be!" yelled Kira as he tried to fire his beam rifle but missed completely.

Ramba Ral quickly made quick work of another GINN OCHER that had destroyed the remaining Magella attack tank and quickly ordered the Cui's to ram into the Lesseps, but only one of them managed to slightly hit it before getting destroyed, the other was destroyed by Waltfeld. Just then the Gallop did a suicide charge towards the Lesseps and fired all of its weapons at it but the Lesseps fired right back and the Gallop went in flames and crashed right into the battleship as both of them exploded. Ramba Ral then turned towards the LaGOWE and fired the Gouf's 75mm finger machine guns but missed, and was shoot hit by the beam cannons and saw the Gouf's left arm was taken off that held that heat rod. Realizing this, Ramba Ral quickly activated the heat saber and charged towards Waltfeld in a suicidal charge…

"GLORY TO THE REPUBLIC OF ZEON YOU ZAFT PIG!" yelled Ramba Ral as he attempted to slash the LaGOWE but Waltfeld got him first with the beam cannons as the Gouf exploded.

"Captain Ramba Ral!" yelled Roberto.

"Ramba…" said Char as he saw another comrade die in front of his eyes. "No…"

"Mr. Waltfeld! Stop this right now! I don't want to fight you!" yelled Kira as stepped in front of the LaGOWE.

"Save your words Kira! I'll fight until one of us dies!" yelled Waltfeld as Aisha fired the beam cannons and swiftly charged at Kira as the Gundam dodged the LaGOWE's dual beam saber attack.

"Stop it! Don't you see it doesn't have to end this way!" yelled Kira as he fired the beam rifle at the dual beam cannon's, disabling them. "Don't do this!"

"Kid, this is war…" yelled Andy as he charged at Kira with the LaGOWE with the dual beam saber once more until Kira slashed the LaGOWE in half with Gundam Zephyranthes' beam saber. "Remember this kid… I have no regrets!"

Soon afterwards, the LaGOWE exploded as Kira cried and sobbed loudly while he banged his fists against the controls. Char came up next to Kira in his Rick-Dom and placed a hand on the shoulder of the Gundam.

"War is a trying thing on any man's soul… This sort of sadness is inevitable, and will only get worse if humanity does not change…" said Char.

"Why must all people be so ignorant and blind Char…" said Kira.

"Because there are those whose souls… are weighed down by the gravity of earth…" said Char. "Come on Kira, let's get you back on the White Base. Roberto, are you coming?"

"My duty is to you, Char." Said Roberto.

"Alright then, lets get back to the White Base. All mobile suit forces, don't fall behind!" ordered Char as they all landed back into the hangar of the White Base. Char immediately came back to a warm welcome by all of the crew that thought he was dead and immediately was tackled by Sleggar.

"The Red Comet is back, heh!" exclaimed Sleggar. "No one can kill us…"

"Because we're the Immortal 4th Team!" Char and Sleggar said in unison as they laughed. Roberto however, was slow to get out of his Zaku II as he peered he stared on at the curious White Base crew. He then saw Murrue who looked up at him, and immediately Roberto saluted.

"I am Ensign Roberto of the Republic of Zeon. I desire to defect to the Earth Federal Forces." Stated Roberto.

"I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, captain of this ship, the White Base." Said Murrue as she saluted.

"I am Ensign Natarle, but before we grant your defection, we must ask you several questions, follow me." Said Natarle as Roberto followed close behind.

"Lieutenant!" yelled Kira as he tackled Char. "You're alright!"

"Yes, I'm okay… So don't make a big deal out of it." Said Char as he closed his eyes.

Within days, news traveled out that the Red Comet was indeed alive and not shot down and Kira's reputation as a Federation ace mobile suit pilot went up as the news covered how Kira shot down the "Desert Tiger" Andy Waltfeld. Lacus watched intently as she breathed a heavy sigh of relief after hearing Char had survived. She turned off the TV and began to cry tears, after hearing Char being alive. She had decided that then and there, she would vow to protect her Red Comet, her Casval Daikun. And the only way to do that was to end the war quickly. She then quickly ran down a few stairs and whispered something into a loyal aide's ear and they both quickly approached Siegel Clyne if they could make a trip to Earthside for a fictitious concert on Earth. And Chairman Clyne allowed her daughter to leave on a shuttle bound for Earth…

"My goal… is to steal ZAFT's new prototype Gundam, the Freedom Gundam… I must give that to Char and his friends so this dreadful war will finally come to an end!" said Lacus. "And when the war ends, Char will be safe and sound with me…"

The White Base had finally touched down near the Black Sea so that they could be re-supplied in time for Operation Odessa, the Federation's huge counteroffensive against ZAFT. The Medea squadron ended up taking back Gundam Unit 1, but in return gave the White Base and Kira a new prototype, the RX-178 Gundam Mark II. As the Gundam Mark II and all of its components were being loaded onto the White Base, Kira was already busy at work, studying the manual for the new Gundam as Char watched another supply ship land near the White Base, only this ship belonged to Anaheim Electronics. Char stared on as a somewhat tall man with curly brown hair came out who looked to be around his early-20's. That man, was Amuro Ray, the CEO of Anaheim Electronics, and a personal friend of Casval. The two shook hands as they embraced one another.

"It's been a while Casval, or should I say Char?" asked Amuro.

"Haha, Char is preferred now. So, did you get the data I sent you regarding the Rick-Dom II and the Zaku II?" asked Char.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. You helped complete a new mobile suit that Anaheim has been trying to build for a while now. My company hired a whole lot of Zeon refugee engineers, and up until now, they have been working on this new mobile suit design, called the Rick-Dias. It's based off of Zeon's Rick-Dom and Gelgoog series, but we cobbled the two together to form this one. But we still needed the Rick-Dom II's data on the engine output. Hope you don't mind my company taking these mobile suits back to Von Braun City on the moon." Said Amuro.

"But I still need something to pilot, so does Roberto…" replied Char.

"We've got you covered. In that supply plane are three new Rick-Dias mobile suits, one of them painted in your colors Char. Heh." Said Amuro.

"Impressive as always Amuro." Replied Char as he laughed as his green Haro recognized Amuro.

"I gave that Haro to you for your 11th birthday, I remember. Back when we could go about our lives without a care, or fear of war… Sad times, it has become…" said Amuro as he sighed. "There's something I need to ask you though…"

"What?" asked Char.

"Why didn't you go back to Axis with Gato and the others?" asked Amuro. "It always baffled me as to why you stayed in Earth's Sphere."

"I can't do anything from a cold and far-away rock, Amuro… You should probably take Cagalli with you and get going." Said Char.

"Oh, right… Her father is the leader of the Orb Union. She didn't specify the reason why she needed to go, she just didn't want to talk about it."

"Hm, yes… But she'll be better off at home than here." Replied Char.

"Have you noticed the corruption within the Earth Federation?" asked Amuro.

"It's been corrupt since day one Amuro, you and I know that." Char said.

"I've been thinking about creating a resistance group both against the Earth Federation and ZAFT…" said Amuro. "You know it to be true in your heart Char, neither can continue on their current paths…"

"Yes… I am very well aware of that…" said Char as he turned away. "I'll talk to you again soon Amuro, get going before we get attacked again."

"See you around Char." Replied Amuro as the two went their separate ways. Cagalli followed Amuro in the Anaheim Electronics shuttle, but then turned back around at Kira and some of the crew as they waved back at her.

"Bye, Kira…" said Cagalli as she entered the shuttle.

UC 0079, November 7… Operation Odessa

With that, the White Base's engines flared up and made its way towards the 5th battle line near wear the Federal Forces in Europe were gathering to attack ZAFT's Odessa mining base, a key base for ZAFT for Operation Odessa. General Revil, leader of the Federal Forces, was planning the Federation's counterattack in a Big Tray-class land battleship with many type-61 tanks and FF-6 TIN Cod's following. The White Base, being used a rear line distraction was near the Black Sea drawing away as much of the ZAFT mobile suit forces away from Odessa. In doing so, the White Base attracted the attention of an old foe, Athrun Zala and his team of two other ace pilots, Nicol Amalfi and Yzak Joule. Within minutes, Athrun's Justice Gundam and Nicol and Yzak's DINN mobile suits were closing in on the White Base.

"Ma'am, there appears to be three enemy units approaching from 70 degrees at 1:30. Two DINN's and one new unknown model. There also appears to be a Medea transport in the area" Said Oscar as he began scanning the area and broadcasting the Minovsky particles.

"Send out Char and Kira. Keep Sleggar and Roberto on standby." Ordered Murrue.

Meanwhile back at the hangar, both Char and Kira were in the red Rick-Dias and the Gundam Mark II preparing for the launch. Char then cut in on the comm. link and contacted Kira.

"Kira, stay on your toes. The enemy we're up against is very skilled." Said Char. "Char Aznable, in Rick-Dias! Launching!"

"Got it Char. Kira Yamato in the Gundam Mark II, away!" yelled Kira as the Mark II launched with the Rick-Dias as they began to intercept Athrun's team.

"The Earth Forces have new mobile suits?" remarked Athrun as he fired his beam rifle at Kira as both of them evaded with Char targeting Nicol's DINN with the Rick-Dias's clay bazooka but missed.

"These mobile suits are fast! Damn!" yelled Char as Athrun's team flanked behind him and Kira and went in single file for a jet stream attack against Kira's Mark II. "Kira! Heads up!"

Kira at first was taken on by surprised but then suddenly knew what Athrun was trying to do as he pulled out the beam saber as he jumped over Athrun's Justice Gundam and used Yzak's DINN as a springboard to jump higher. Nicol's DINN attempted fire a missile at the Mark II but the Mark II quickly ducked and slashed Nicol's DINN in half as it exploded in midair.

"Nicol!" yelled Athrun in rage. "That pilot killed him! Is that you Kira! DID YOU DO THAT!"

"You'll pay for killing Nicol!" yelled Yzak as he attempted to ram into the Mark II but Char fired the Rick-Dias's clay bazooka as an explosive shell tore off the DINN's arm. Char quickly pulled out a beam pistol and fired at the head of the DINN, watching the rest of the mobile suit explode. Athrun fired his beam rifle at Char but the Red Comet quickly dodged as he fired his beam pistol right back at him, Athrun of course dodging but going straight towards Kira, who still had his beam saber out, tearing off a part of the shoulder armor of the Justice Gundam.

"DAMN YOU KIRA!" yelled Athrun as he targeted his beam rifle again and shot off the Mark II's leg but was quickly chased off by Char's Rick-Dias and forced into retreat.

"I will get you for this Kira! You WILL pay!" yelled Athrun as the Justice used its verniers. Char's Rick-Dias landed next to the damaged Mark II.

"Kira! Kira! Kira answer me! Are you alright!" asked Char.

"Yes... Lieutenant…" replied Kira.

"You did a good job fighting, but you let your guard down for a minute, you do that, and you'll be killed in an instant!" lectured Char as they both headed back to the White Base.

Soon after that battle, the Federal Forces engaged ZAFT forces and began the attack on Odessa. A brutal week-long battle ensued, each side suffering heavy losses, but Revil's forces won out in the end with ZAFT making full-fledged retreats on all fronts on the Earth. With the fall of Odessa, the Federal Forces re-took the Australian continent, and the key Torrington Base near Sydney, where the colony drop occurred earlier in the war. Pretty soon, ZAFT only held onto the African Front and western North America where the California Base was located. Pretty soon with these recent losses for ZAFT, Patrick Zala was facing scrutiny back at the PLANTs, especially from Chairman Clyne, who denounced his methods. In a desperate last ditch attempt to keep ZAFT's forces on Earth, Operation Splitbreak, the plan to attack and invade Jaburo HQ of the Federal Forces in South America, was implemented. Leading this operation was Commander Rau Le Crueset, another one of the White Base's key foes from earlier. Within days with their last battle with Athrun at Odessa, now a huge Federal Forces victory, landed at the spaceship dock at Jaburo. They had finally made it and everything seemed to be going smoothly, or so they thought…

"So this is Jaburo?" asked Kira.

"Yes, this is the headquarters of the entire Earth Federation military. This is where they developed Gundam Unit 1." Said Murrue as she looked on at a pink Brazilian flamingo.

"This is where me, Apolly, Sleggar, and Lieutenant South Burning were stationed after we all graduated from the Federation Officer Academy at Nijenmen. I wonder if old Burning is still kicking it here… heh." Said Char.

All of the sudden Char had a flashback to when he was about 17. After he had been rescued by the Earth Federation, he was placed under the care of South Burning.

"I'm going to be 18 soon… I want to join the Federation… I want to… I have to!" yelled Char. "ZAFT and the Federation are going to war aren't they! Then I kill all of those ZAFT scum!"

"Now take it easy Char. You may be a young adult, but you still think like a kid. You haven't matured completely yet." Said Burning.

"Patrick Zala killed my father! Destroyed my home! You can't possibly ask me to not join in on this war!" yelled Char.

"That's not my point Char, and you know it. My point is that you're getting a little in over your head. Calm down and think about what you are doing before you enlist. Now I know I can't stop you, but think before you do anything. You're like a son to me, and I don't think I could stand to see you get hurt Char." Said Burning.

Char snapped out of his flashback and sighed as he removed his sunglasses as maintenance officers from Jaburo commenced an overhaul of the White Base and latched the ship down. Pretty soon the entire crew of the White Base left the ship and were directed towards the medical facilities where each of the crew underwent a thorough medical examination. Kira and Char however received a different sort of examination…

"Hey Kira! How did yours go?" asked Sleggar. "Seemed more like a regular physical to me…"

"Not really… the took a lot of x-rays and scanned my brainwaves a lot… weird stuff…" said Kira. "What about you Lieutenant?"

"Same as yours, they were weirding me out too… And that doctor seemed a little too friendly… I mean he IS a guy…" said Char.

"Haha, Char got molested by a gay doctor, heh." Said Roberto.

"Cut it out Roberto…" said Char as he put his sunglasses back on as he saw someone from the corner of his eyes. "Lieutenant Burning!"

"Char? Char it is you!" exclaimed Burning in his usual blue uniform as he and Char embraced. "Sleggar! You're here too! Wow! Holy shit you guys!"

"Heh, good to see you again Lieutenant Burning."

"Hey! Is Apolly here too!" asked Burning.

"No… He's not… He's…" said Char as he trailed off.

"No… He's dead… isn't he…" said Burning as Char nodded in response. "I see…"

"How have you been you old geezer? Heh." Said Char as he snickered.

"Hey, age is only a matter of the mind you know… Heh." Replied Burning as they continued to crack age-related jokes at one another all of the sudden a Federal Forces officer with a pink envelope approached Char.

"Mail for Lieutenant Char Aznable." Said the officer.

"Who's it from?" asked Char.

"Beats me, there's no name on it or a return address." Said the officer as he shrugged and walked off. Char took the envelope to his nose and sniffed it, Helen-Helen perfume. A very expensive one at that; only available at the PLANTs.

"Is that a love letter!" asked Roberto as he tried to hold his snickers in.

"Ohh! The Red Comet's got a girlfriend!" said Sleggar as he whistled as Burning and Kira laughed at Char's expense.

"Cut it out you guys…" said Char rolled his eyes and opened the piece of mail. He unfolded the letter and saw a backstage pass to Lacus's concert in California. He then read the letter…

"To Casval Rem Daikun,

I am overly excited as I write this letter to you, Casval, my love. I have broken up with Athrun, I've made up my mind Casval, I want to be with you… But at the same time I know there's a war going on. I want to marry you, and I swear that I will protect you and see that this awful war ends quickly as it can. Come to my concert Casval, and come backstage and wait for me. I need to give you something that will help you and your friends out greatly. We'll see each other soon… Please be careful, my Red Comet…

Love, Lacus Clyne."

Char smiled and grinned slightly as he tucked the letter away in his front pocket.

"Hey Char! What was in that thing?" asked Roberto.

"Lemme guess, Lacus, right?" asked Kira.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out Kira. Heh." Said Char as he went to a video comm-link in a separate room. He then got into contact with Anaheim Electronics' Front Desk.

"Hello, this is Anaheim Electronics, how may we assist you today?" asked a blonde woman who turned out to be the front desk manager.

"My name is Lieutenant Char Aznable of the Federal Forces. I need to speak with Amuro Ray. Tell him it's an emergency." Said Char.

"Yes sir. Lieutenant Aznable, I will patch you through to Amuro momentarily." Said the woman as Amuro's face appeared.

"Hey Char. Didn't expect to hear back from you so soon." Said Amuro. "What's up?"

"Lacus is holding a concert in California in North America. I need you to take me there in an Anaheim Electronics transport with a disguise ready. It's very urgent." Said Char.

"I understand, I'll pick you up in my personal transport tomorrow first thing. Oh, another thing Char, I have a new mobile suit for you. It's based off the design you sent in. You mentioned how using the Gundarium armor of the Rick-Dias and combining that with the movable frame of the Gundam Mark II would make a perfect mobile suit. We've made you a transformable mobile suit called the Zeta Gundam. I'll give you the details of that later. You'll see it all tomorrow." Said Amuro.

"Thank you very much Amuro. I don't know what I'd do without you. Heh." Said Char as he and Amuro laughed.

"Hey, you and me are like brothers practically. I'll help you out in any way I can. I best get going. See you tomorrow." Said Amuro.

"As will I." said Char as he nodded as the screen went blank. All of the sudden an explosion rocked Char and the others onto the floor.

As that explosion took place, Lieutenant Commander Murrue was in the briefing room being interrogated by some top Federal Forces brass. Hurdles of questions were thrown at Murrue as to her actions of picking up Lacus Clyne in space, Char's mysterious disappearance, and working with a rebel group, the Zeon's African Liberation Front.

"Which side are you on exactly Lieutenant Commander! Because quite frankly we can't tell!" yelled a top Federation general. "You ALLOWED an ENEMY to live! What the blue hell were you thinking! THIS IS A WAR!"

"Is it always necessary to take lives in cold blood! Lacus Clyne was of no threat or harm to us General, with all due respect!" retorted Murrue.

"Not only that but you picked up a ZEON RENEGADE and allowed him onto the ship and potentially revealed Federation secrets! This kind of serious violation of protocol leads to court marshaling of the entire crew!"

Out of nowhere a menacing laugh could be heard from a darkened part of the brass' table. A tall man wearing a light blue suit with blonde hair stood up and began to speak. He pounded his fists onto the table as he quietly cleared his throat.

"What does it matter? This war is nearly over. The Earth Federation and naturals alike will win this war against ZAFT and the coordinator scum. It's only a matter of time. Our fleet has been rebuilt and refit completely, all we need to do is two things: force the Orb Union to cooperate with the Earth Federation, and take Jachin Due asteroid base from ZAFT and invade their homeland."

"But Mr. Azrael, the Orb Union has stressed its position of neutrality in this war." Said Captain Bright.

"Shut up! Being neutral in this war is considered a luxury. If they refuse to cooperate, we will simply invade and destroy the Orb Union." Replied Muruta Azrael rather curtly.

"You can't honestly be serious about that! The Orb Union is a sovereign nation! We'd be no different than ZAFT, the same enemy that poison gassed all of Side 3 colonies! I don't know how you insane fanatics in Blue Cosmos run things, but here in the Earth Federation is much different and I dare say more in touch with the Earth Sphere." Replied Bright Noa.

"Quiet Captain Bright! You're in contempt! I agree with Chairman Azrael. In fact, I'm putting all of the Earth Federation's fleets under his control. From this day on, the Earth Federation Space Force will be under the control of the Federal Force's elite taskforce, the Titans, under the supervision of Chairman Azrael." Said General William Sutherland.

"I am honored that you put the Titans in such high esteem, General." Said a tall man wearing a white uniform who had slightly purple hair.

"The time to take over the Earth Sphere and put it under control of naturals is now, Paptimus Scirocco. Although I am quite surprised you signed that loyalty oath and sealed it with your own blood." Said Azrael.

"Dear Chairman, an oath is nothing without blood…" said Scirocco as he laughed softly.

"What do they want with this man from Jupiter! The Federation must be getting desperate…" thought Bright.

"I don't believe that they're actually going to attack Orb… The Federation has gone too far this time…" thought Murrue as she clinched her fists. With that, both Bright and Murrue left the hearing room in absolute disgust.

"I can't believe those people! They gave into Blue Cosmos and the Titans just like that!" yelled Bright as he started his buggy.

"And I still can't believe they're going to attack a neutral nation…" said Murrue. "Hold, wait a minute, your Captain Bright Noa. You're the one that saved us during re-entry!"

"Glad to see you're still alive Lieutenant Commander. My ship and my crew were not as lucky. Rau Le Crueset was just too much for us." Said Bright.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You're pretty much out of the Federation Forces, as am I. Do you have a wife to go back to?" asked Murrue.

"Yes, I do. Her name is Mirai, and I even have two kids, Hathaway and Cheimin. But if I go back now, I could them in danger since the Federation will follow my every move if this war is still going on…" said Bright. "How about you? A husband or a boyfriend perhaps?"

"No… Not quite… I did have a boyfriend at the start of the war… He was a Saberfish pilot, but he got killed." Said Murrue as Kira listened in from behind another building close by. He sighed to himself and closed his eyes. He then pounded his fist hard into the wall and ran off enough for both Bright and Murrue to hear.

"But now I have someone—Kira! Hold on! Don't go!" yelled Murrue as she tried to chase after him.

"I'll give you a lift." Said Bright as Murrue hopped into the buggy and drove off to catch up to Kira.

Finally the chase had stopped as Kira ran into a mobile suit factory and sat down on a platform and sighed as Murrue finally caught up with him.

"I-…" said Murrue.

"Just save your excuse…" said Kira.

"It was a long time ago Kira… but now things are different…" she said as she placed her hand on Kira's cheek as she hugged onto Kira as he hugged onto her back. But then an explosion rocked them both onto the ground. Back one the White Base, Char, Roberto, Sleggar, and Burning ran to the mobile suit deck. Kira was too far away from the White Base to get into his Mark II so he opted for a GM II mobile suit, a mass-production mobile suit based off the Gundam Mark II. Burning took out the Mark II while Char, Sleggar, and Roberto took off in their Rick-Dias mobile suits. As it turned out, ZAFT had already commenced Operation Splitbreak in order to invade Jaburo. Athrun had already landed near Jaburo in his Justice Gundam along with Rau Le Crueset in his new GuAIZ mobile suit along with an entire troop of mobile suits, GINN's, ZuOOT's, GOOhn's, and a few ZnO's. GM II mobile suits and FF-6 TIN Cod fighters began to scramble and intercept the ZAFT forces already in Jaburo and those that already infiltrated the underground base through the spaceship dock.

"Lieutenant Burning, Sleggar, you're with me. Roberto! Stay inside of the base and help Kira out." Ordered Char as they all split off into battle. Char immediately got his first kill firing a bazooka shell at the enemy, immediately destroying 2 GINN mobile suits and another as he fired his beam pistol at an on-coming GOOhn's head. Sleggar was busy as well as he slashed off the head of a GINN with the Rick-Dias's beam saber. Burning was holding his own in the Gundam Mark II, but began to feel somewhat disoriented as he tried to keep up with the fast-paced ZAFT mobile suits. He fired 3 shots at an oncoming ZuOOT and destroyed it as Burning began to breathe somewhat heavily. Out of nowhere both Athrun and Rau Le Crueset attacked the trio. Quickly Char's newtype precognition senses went off and charged right at Le Crueset's GuAIZ with a beam saber, with him dodging of course.

"RAU LE CRUESET!" yelled Char as he slashes away at Rau's mobile suit, but each time countering.

Meanwhile Sleggar tried to keep Athrun at bay with a constant volley of bazooka shots by the kept on getting closer and closer until finally Athrun had Sleggar on the ropes, charging at him. Until Burning intervened and managed to get Athrun's Justice to lose balance for a little bit.

"Sleggar! Are you alright! Do you read me!" yelled Burning.

"Lieutenant Burning! Watch out!" yelled Sleggar as Athrun fired the beam rifle of the Justice Gundam directly at the cockpit of the Gundam Mark II and watched his old mentor die in front of him. Suddenly Char kicked Le Crueset's GuAIZ into a river and felt a sick sensation.

"Oh no… LIEUTENANT BURNING!" yelled Char as he hurried back to Sleggar's position and saw the Mark II explode with Burning's bloodied body falling towards the hard jungle ground, dead and lifeless. "ATHRUN ZALA YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU KILLED MY FATHER AND NOW YOU KILL MY MENTOR! HOW DARE YOU! YOU MURDERER!"

Char in a frenzy of pure, his newtype berseker abilities kicked in as he threw the bazooka at the Justice, breaking off the shield. Quickly Char charged at Athrun and fired his beam pistol as he gave chase to Athrun. Char then pulled out the Rick-Dias's beam saber and completely slashed off an arm of the Justice knocking Athrun into freefall into the Amazon River.

"Oh no… I sense sadness and much anger… So much grief… Char…" said Kira as he quickly jumped out of the spacegate's window and onto the outside surface of the forest. He quickly found Char's Rick-Dias and fired a shot into the river right where Athrun was about to jump back out, completely taking off the Justice's right leg off.

"STAY AWAY KIRA! THIS BASTARD IS MINE TO KILL!" yelled Char as he attempted to charge back into the river but was immediately held back by Kira.

"Lieutenant! You're shaken up, I know you are. In the state you're in right now, you're going to get yourself killed. Let's get back to Area 1, Lieutenant Comamnder Murrue wants us to meet there instead of the White Base." Said Kira as Athrun and Rau Le Crueset made their escape…

As it turned out, Operation Splitbreak was a major failure for the ZAFT forces and a gamble that would cost them dearly as their forces began to retreat back out into space. Roberto, Sleggar, Kira, and Char would head back to Area 1, away from the prying eyes of Jaburo. There they saw a new class of ship, one that looked much like the White Base, yet, so much more different. It had the same color scheme, but the design was much different. The mobile suit catapults were more exposed but there was much more fire power on this ship than the White Base. Char looked down and saw his friend Amuro Ray down below along with most of the crew of the White Base.

"Welcome to your new ship, the Argama!" exclaimed Amuro. "Is this everyone Miss Ramius?"

"Yes, only 11 crew members decided to stay behind. Including Natarle and Flay…" said Murrue.

"But still, it's amazing how most of them stayed loyal." Said Amuro. "We need to hurry and get to North America and meet up with the Clyne Faction, Captain Bright."

"Right. Torres! Saegusa! Have those mobile suits loaded onto the Argama at once!" ordered Bright. "Lieutenant Commander Murrue, you will resume control of this ship once we arrive at the Orb Union."

"Yes sir." Replied Murrue as she saluted and helped with loading the mobile suits onto the ship. Char then walked over towards Amuro and shaked his hand.

"I can't thank you enough for all that you are doing for us Amuro." Said Char.

"I'm only doing what I believe in Char. I believe the Titans need to be stopped, and that goes double for Patrick Zala and ZAFT. And we need to be ready to fight the Axis Zeon. From what I hear, their strength is equal to that of the Earth Federation. That's very bad." Said Amuro.

"That Haman Karn…." Said Char.

"Who's Haman Karn?" asked Kira.

"No one… just someone we'll have to deal with later… that's all." Said Char as he boarded the Argama with Amuro and Kira.

Soon the Argama began to lift off into the sky and made its way past the Amazon jungle of Jaburo and headed towards North America. The journey only took less than a few days as Roberto, Sleggar, Char, and Kira played a few rounds of poker here and there to kill time. Murrue sat on the bridge drawing a few things in her sketch pad, utterly bored. Until of course Sleggar accused Roberto of cheating since he seemed to be getting the better of the hands.

"Come on Sleggar, was it YOU that suggested we play poker to kill time?" inquired Kira who rolled his eyes.

"Roberto is cheating! I know he is!" yelled Sleggar as he lost yet another hand along with two of his favorite porn magazines.

"Won that fair and square and you know it." Said Roberto as he snickered at Sleggar's 3 and 4 of spades.

"Shouldn't have gone all in Sleggar, heh." Remarked Char as he folded his hand.

"Ahh, what do you know…" said Sleggar as he slammed his cards down in slight anger.

Finally the Argama touched down in a desert area in California, the site of where a colony had fallen. Colony ruins were everywhere and nothing else could be seen besides dust. But there was already a small shuttle nearby the Argama. It belonged to Anaheim Electronics.

Immediately Char informed Murrue that he, Amuro, and Kira were going. Murrue nodded and permitted them to leave on the shuttle. All three of them entered the shuttle and it took off towards a ZAFT base. Pretty soon Kira and Quattro were dressed in ZAFT officer uniforms as their disguises as the shuttle landed near a large concert hall building. The three stepped out as they could see a crowd already forming inside of the building. From the distance, Char could see Lacus getting ready on the stage whilst everyone else was cheering her on.

"WOOO! YEAH BABY! LACUS YOU ARE HOT!" yelled one ZAFT soldier.

"I LOVE YOU LACUS! MARRY ME!" yelled another.

Char sighed and shook his in slight disgust and looked towards Kira.

"Kira, I need you to stay out here, if anything goes wrong, just leave with Amuro, got it?"

"Alright. I understand Lieutenant Char." replied Kira as he tood near the building watching Char go to the backstage door, where he sat down on a few boxes and waited for Lacus's concert to finish. After two hours, the concert was finally about to end before Lacus was about to sing her finale song.

"This last song, I want to dedicate to someone special. Someone I've known since I was little girl, someone, I love deeply… If you're listening, this song is for you…" said Lacus as she whispered softly the next word. "Casval…"

_Beneath a veil so cold,_

_You deeply sleep, all alone_

_The melody of prayer; on the lonely fields,_

_a little light shined_

_I watched as you dreamed_

_You laughed like a child_

_So dear, and yet so far-_

_That is the promise of our future_

Char looked on at Lacus and smiled slightly as he heard he beautiful voice that sounded like that of an angel's. Char couldn't believe it at all, Lacus had broken up with Athrun and was now asking Char to marry her. It all felt like a dream, only thing is, it was no dream, it was Char's reality as he knew it.

_That one day, on a green morning,_

_One day, we will make it there_

_Because in this wintered sky_

_We still believe_

_Fields of Hope_

_On the day we were born, we were embraced_

_And now we search for those gentle hands again_

_The melody of prayer; one vanishes,_

_And all begins again; a powerless, painful continuation_

Char began to have a flashback right before his eyes, all of those times he spent with Lacus back on Side 3. All those memories of his home, his father, his family, and Lacus all came back at him like a wave as the face of someone who had been thought dead for a long time finally awoke, that face, was the true face of Casval Daikun as he shed tears.

_One day, to that green morning,_

_We'll cross through all these nights_

_Because that is the place each one of us searches for_

_Now, within my own heart,_

_I want to keep you warm_

_So dear, and yet so far -_

_In the name of peace_

_Fields of Hope_

Char pulled off his sunglasses and began to wipe his tears off with his hands as he smiled on at Lacus as she got to the last verse of the song.

_So dear, and yet so far -_

_The fields of promise_

_Fields of Hope_

_Fields of Hope_

The crowd of ZAFT soldiers and officers stood on their feet giving Lacus a standing ovation. Lacus bowed and smiled back at the crowd.

"Thank you all for coming!" said Lacus as she bowed once more and left the stage and headed towards backstage. She looked around and couldn't find Char anywhere until she found him wearing a green ZAFT uniform in his usual sunglasses. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. "Casval… I…"

"Oh Lacus… I love you… You don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment to happen…" said Char as he and Lacus leaned in closer and closer until their lips finally met and the two embraced in a passionate kiss, their tongues encircling each other. They both pulled away reluctantly for the sake of oxygen.

"I love you too Casval…" Lacus replied as she smiled at her lover and hugged onto Char tightly. "Casval, we need to get moving before ZAFT finds out why we're truly here. This base… holds ZAFT's newest prototype Gundam, the Freedom."

"I see, and our goal is to steal it. Right?" asked Char.

"Yes, exactly." Said Lacus. "Come on, let's get going!"

With that Lacus and Char ran out back towards where Amuro and Kira were.

"Kira! You're with me, Amuro stay here!" ordered Char as he, Kira, and Lacus ran towards another building, which was top secret and off limits. Lacus pulled out a key and opened the door to get inside, and just as Lacus thought, the Freedom Gundam sitting there waiting for maintenance. Kira then opened up the hatch and activated the Freedom Gundam's systems as the eyes glowed bright neon green and the Freedom Gundam began to move.

"Hey Lieutenant! I got it! Let's get out of here!" yelled Kira as both Lacus and Char jumped onto the hand of the Freedom, with Lacus holding onto Char.

"Hey! You in the Gundam! STOP RIGHT NOW!" yelled a ZAFT soldier as he fired his machine gun at the cockpit of the Freedom, but of course, had no effect as the Freedom mowed right through the building.

"Murrue! We've successfully stolen ZAFT's Freedom Gundam! We're heading back to the Argama right now!" yelled Kira.

"Hurry back Kira! Be careful!" she replied.

Char and Lacus held on tight as the Freedom flew through the air with Amuro's shuttle following close by, all of them heading to the Argama. After a few minutes, they made it back and the Freedom landed into the hangar of the Argama next to the Zeta Gundam and the two red Rick-Dias.

"Captain Bright! The Freedom is now aboard the Argama!" said Oscar.

"Good! Get the Argama moving! Torres! What's our status?" asked Bright.

"The engines are at critical, lifting off now. Setting course heading for the Orb Union." Said Torres.

Meanwhile back at the hangar, Lacus prepared to get into an escape shuttle as Char and Kira saw her off.

"I need to go back to the PLANTs and take care of a few more things. I will come back to you Casval, but please, stay alive for me." Said Lacus as she gave Char one more kiss and entered the shuttle. Soon the shuttle launched straight up into space with Amuro's shuttle taking an opposite route up towards the Moon.

"Hey Kira… you alright?" asked Char who looked over at Kira who looked pretty exhausted.

"Yea… I suppose…" replied Kira as he closed his eyes. "We've been through so much, so many deaths of our friends, and yet… this war is so far from over…"

Kira breathed in and out heavily as he sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand. He then stumbled to his knees and sat the foot of the Freedom Gundam as Roberto and Sleggar were about to approach until Char motioned for them not to.

"Kira… You must pull yourself together. We have many more battles to fight and so much more to do… Those whose souls are weighed down by gravity must be guided towards a better future, a future that has everyone living out in outer space. It is the only way Kira, the only way to save humanity. That is why we must continue to fight." Said Char.

"You're right… But at the cost how many lives? Both on the battlefield and innocents?" asked Kira.

"Peace and a better future never came at a small price Kira. This war, will determine whether or not coordinators, newtypes, and naturals can live in peace, together in harmony. Just as my father had imagined." Said Char. "I originally joined the Earth Federation to get revenge against ZAFT for killing my father. But now… after seeing Lacus again, I realize that now the best way to avenge my father's legacy is to spread the ideals of the AEUG."

"AEUG?" asked Kira.

"The Anti-Earth Union Group. It's funded by Amuro Ray, and was created by dissident Federation officers, and just now, Lacus Clyne and her followers joined the AEUG. We're a part of the AEUG too." Said Char.

"I see…" said Kira as he sighed. "We outta be arriving at orb in about a week right sir?"

"Yea… A week." Said Char as he finished up maintenance for the Zeta Gundam.

A few more days passed until finally the Argama had entered Orb airspace but then was immediately fired upon by Aegis-class ships.

"Why are they firing at us!" inquired Bright. "Attention forces of the Orb Union! This is the AEUG Pegasus III Class ship, Argama. We come in peace and offer no harm! We ask that you cease fire upon our ship!"

"The AEUG? Very well… you're permitted to land." Replied an officer from the Orb ship.

"Mr. Uzumi Athha! Sir! The Argama has landed. It belongs to the AEUG, and not the Federal Forces are previously thought." Said an officer.

"I see. The AEUG, that group fight both ZAFT and the Earth Federation… Have we heard from the Earth Federation yet with their reply to our plea?" asked Uzumi.

"No sir. The Earth Federation looks like they will continue with their attack on our nation." Replied the officer.

"Keep contacting them and stress the Orb Union's position of neutrality." Uzumi ordered as he sighed. "Ever since the Titans gained control over the Federation… Things have gotten a lot harder…"

As he began contemplating to himself, Cagalli looked out the window and saw the Zeta and the Freedom Gundams covering the Argama from any potential enemy units. She looked over at her father who was in deep thought and she sighed as well. She knew that the Federal Forces were going to invade in order to gain the Orb Union's mass driver and territory to gain full control over the Earth. And soon, Murrue, Bright, Char, and Kira entered the room and saluted Uzumi.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Ramius, now currently the captain of the AEUG flagship, Argama. We come to the Orb Union to defect news of a Federal Forces invasion." Said Murrue.

"Welcome to Orb, Miss Ramius. We welcome all of the AEUG members. We already know of the unfortunate news you bear us… The Earth Federation plans on attacking in less than two hours. I recommend that you escape to space along with the other AEUG members that have fled here, along with an escort spaceship, the Kusanagi." Said Uzumi. "We appreciate the sentiment, so therefore the Orb Union will join the AEUG."

"Thank you for your support Mr. Attha." Said Char as he shook his hand. "As co-founder of the AEUG, along with Lacus Clyne, the other co-founder, our chief representative, Amuro Ray from Anaheim Electronics wishes you well."

Uzumi simply nodded and motioned at a group of dissident Federation officers.

"If I may direct your attention to these men, they are AEUG members that fled here to Orb."

"Captain Henken Bekkner, formerly captain of the Salamis-Kai class cruiser, Suruga." Said Captain Henken as he saluted.

"Ensign Jack Bayard, mobile suit pilot aboard the Suruga, leader of the 'Jack the Holloween' Team."

"Sergeant Kingnan, formerly an operator aboard the Gallop, Axis Advance Force turned AEUG."

"Captain Bright, you will be in charge of the Kusanagi, with Captain Henken in second in command who will be in charge of all matters dealing with mobile suits. You two are legends in the Federation Forces, so are you Miss Ramius." Said Uzumi.

"Thank you sir." All three replied.

Uzumi then looked to Kira as Cagalli yelled out his named and gave Kira a hug. "So you must be the gundam pilot we've been hearing so much about from Cagalli and the news."

"Yes sir." Said Kira. "But all I'm doing is fighting to protect my friends. I'm not anything special."

"That in itself, is something very special." Replied Uzumi.

All of the sudden an explosion rocked all of them to the ground. The Earth Federation had finally begun its attack on the Orb Union. The Dogosse Gier, the Titans newest flagship, was at the front leading the invasion with many Garuda-class airships launching their GM II mobile suits. Scirocco sat at the bridge as Murata stood nearby smirking. Next to Scirocco was his new protégé, Flay Allster.

"Now to see if your new toys work, Paptimus Scirocco…" said Murata as he laughed somewhat maniacally as Titan ace pilot, Yazan Gable launched in his new transformable mobile suit made by Scirocco himself, the Messala. The Messala was light lbue in color with some accents of dark blue.

"YAZAN TEAM! LAUNCHING!" yelled Yazan as he smirked sadistically as he launched from the Dogosse Gier's hangar and into the battlefield. He fired his beam cannons of the Messala and took out a group of M1 Astray mobile suits along with an Aegis class ship. "Insects like yourselves deserve to die!"

Meanwhile the other GM II's landed on Orb for the attack, swiftly making their way deeper. Murata watched with a certain satisfaction as now he controlled the Earth Federation.

"The whole war is wiping out the coordinators and putting us, the naturals of Earth back on top and in charge. The coordinators are like wild animals, who at the very least should be caged or put on a leash… because us naturals are the weaker beings…" said Murata as he tried to push a flashback of his friends trying to fight with two children who were coordinators, but failed miserably. He could remember crying to his mom about why she didn't let the doctors make him into a coordinator too, but her mother slapped him and told her that coordinators were filthy. Murata's smirk soon returned as he could see Yazan do exceptionally well on the battlefield.

"Please! You all must leave! They will take this place over soon…" said Uzumi as he watched his own daughter cry. "You must leave as well Cagalli."

"But father! I'm not leaving you here!" yelled Cagalli as she tried to cling to her father, but all he did was hand Cagalli a photo of two infant children, one brunette, the other blonde in the arms of a brunette woman. "Go to space, and you will be with your brother."

Cagalli looked behind it and gasped as she was dragged onto the Kusanagi by Orb soldiers. Murrue faced Uzumi and saluted along with the rest of the AEUG members.

"We will keep the light of hope and peace alive that you and the Orb Union have lit, no matter how dim." Said Murrue as Uzumi nodded.

"Now get going!" ordered Uzumi as the rest of the AEUG retreated onto the Argama and the Kusanagi. An extra Rick-Dias and a new model, a rather golden-bright Hyaku Shiki was loaded onto the Argama as well. The Argama prepared for take off and heading to outer space, but Kira and Char got into the Freedom and the Zeta to cover the Kusanagi's launch on the mass-driver.

"This is Kira Yamato in the Freedom! Launching!" yelled Kira as the Freedom launched from the Argama.

"Char Aznable, Zeta Gundam, away!" yelled Char as the Zeta transformed into it's waverider mobile armor form and shot down a line of GM II's as Kira fired his beam rifle and destroyed 2 GM II's. "Don't let the Federation Forces get too close to the mass driver or else this will have all been for nothing Kira!"

"Got ya Lieutenant!" said Kira. "Damn! There's a new model!"

"Not so fast you AEUG insects!" yelled Yazan sadistically as he fired his beam cannons and a volley of missiles from the Messala. Char launched a heat-seeking grenade from the Zeta's right arm but Yazan dodged it quickly, but only to be hit by Kira's beam rifle shot as he got knocked back.

"Kira! We have to latch onto that last component for the Kusanagi or we'll be stuck on Earth!" said Char as the Zeta Gundam transformed back into the waverider form and retreated back to the mass driver as Kira already clutched onto a part of the Kusanagi.

"You're not going anywhere!" yelled Yazan as he fired at Char from behind, but Char continuously dodging.

"Kira! I'm not going to make it! Go on without me!" yelled Char.

"No way in hell Char!" yelled Kira as he fired at Yazan again, this time knocking the Messala into the water as the Freedom's hand extended out its furthest to grasp the hands of the Zeta Gundam. "Come on Lieutenant, you have to make it! You can do it Char!"

Char grunted as the Zeta pushed its thrust level to the max as finally the Zeta grabbed hold of the Freedom as Char and Kira smiled in relief. The Kusanagi's parts along with Char and Kira all made it out into space with the Argama in the lead. It was now quite evident; the final battles of this war would be decided out in outer space, where the fate of the space colonies, the Earth, and everyone living in it would hang in the balance with four warring factions battling for ultimate control over the Earth Sphere…

* * *

With Char's full newtype potential developing and Kira's abilities as a coordinator blossoming, who will survive?

To be continued, please review! Thanks a lot:)

Next chapter: Chapter 3: Encounters In Space


	3. Chapter III: Encounters in Space

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Gundam SEED, Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam, or Gundam 0083, so don't sue.

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all of the reviews and story advice that you all have graciously showered upon me! (but it'd always be nice if I got some more:) ) I'd like to take this time to thank Lacus (if you've seen my myspace, you know who she is) FreeangelGP05, and David Weber for continuing support in "beta testing" my fics and continued encouragement. I'd also like to take this opportunity, with all politics aside, to dedicate this story to my fellow marines who have died overseas in the Iraq War and those who still continue to serve over there, god bless you boys and come home soon. Also, Congrats to the George Mason Patriots for their great NCAA run to the Final 4!

A note on locations…

Some of the locations have changed a little since the beginning of the war between the Earth Federation and ZAFT…

Earth (Jaburo, Odessa) Titans

Side 1: (destroyed)

Side 2: (Sweetwater Colony, Colony 20, Colony 21, Colony 22) AEUG

Side 3: (destroyed)

Side 4: (destroyed)

Side 5: (Texas Colony, Mendel Colony) Abandoned Colonies

Side 6: (Heliopolis, Colony 30, Riah) Orb Union

Side 7: (Green Noa 1, Gryps) Titans

PLANTs (ZAFT)

Moon (Granada Lunar Base Titans, Von Braun City (AEUG))

Luna II (Titans)

Gate of Zedan (AEUG)

Boaz (ZAFT)

Jachin Due (ZAFT)

Axis (Axis)

* * *

- Chapter 3: Encounters In Space - 

UC 0079, November 20… Side 6… Colony 30…

It has been 11 months since the start of the war between the Earth Federation and ZAFT. Depending on one's perspective, this could be seen as a conflict between earthnoids and spacenoids, but on a more bigger scale, the inevitable conflict between coordinators and naturals. And if seen on its grandest scale, the struggle of power and dominance between newtypes and coordinators. Human evolution versus human genetic enhancement. For these complex ideals many have fallen in battle and perished…

As the Titans were busy on the earth removing the last of ZAFT's terrestrial forces at ZAFT's Carpentaria Base, the Titans began to make their move in space as well. A whole new Titan Fleet that had just been launched from Jaburo was making its way towards the Side 6 region, which was territory belonging to the Orb Union…

"You're mad! You've gone absolutely insane Azrael! You're going to kill all of those innocent people in a neutral colony just because you suspect their AEUG supporters? You're only doing the AEUG's work for them! This will only breed more hatred against the Federation!" yelled Admiral Kowen, but as soon as he finished, Murata pulled out a gun on him.

"The Earth must reclaim its title as the rightful rulers of the Earth Sphere. The only way to do that is if we crush the AEUG and ZAFT! Don't you see! Those coordinators are the true enemy! Such a beast should at least be properly caged or on leashes! But in my case, the only way to handle this beast is to kill it. Same goes for these… newtypes…." yelled Murata as he laughed insanely, still point the gun at the Admiral.

"Murata! You son of a bitch!" yelled the Admiral as he attempted to punch the Blue Cosmos leader but was soon shot twice in the chest and fell to his death with Murata only smirking at his latest deed.

The Titan Fleet soon launched all of their mobile suits as wave upon wave of GM II mobile suits with a few Gundam Mark II units painted in dark blue appearing. In the lead was Yazan's Hambrabi flanked by two GM II's carrying a canister of G3 Poison Gas, the gas used to kill off the people within Side 3. The mayor of Colony 30 then sent out a plea of neutrality to the Alexandria, the commanding ship of this operation with the Dogosse Gier.

"Please! We're a neutral colony of the Orb Union! Please don't attack us! We mean you no harm!" pleaded the mayor, but only in vain as Captain Gady Kinsey cut the communication circuit and turned to his crew members.

"The signal got cut off because of minovsky particle density, got it!"

"Yes sir!" replied the crew.

As the mobile suits began to pass through the defensive network of Colony 30, three AEUG ships, all of them Salamis-Kai class painted in pale green with red as opposed to the Titans' standard grey and red, rushed to the scene at Colony 30. The three Salamis ships then soon launched their M1 Astray mobile suits, eleven of them, and one Rick-Dias mobile suit to counter the much larger Titan fleet.

"This is the AEUG cruiser Mont Blanc, 4th AEUG patrol fleet. We're here to protect this colony!" shouted Commandant Wakkein.

"But you only have three ships! You can't possibly expect to win!" yelled the Mayor.

"That doesn't matter. The AEUG would be just as bad as the Titans if we sat back and watched them kill everyone in the colony and destroy it! The AEUG will not back down in the face of Titan tyranny! We will stand our ground for all spacenoids everywhere!" yelled Wakkein as he looked up at the mayor who was shedding tears in somewhat of gratitude and sorrow. "We'll protect this colony for as long as we breathe in and out!"

"Th-Thank you good sir… Long live the AEUG, and… god bless you all…" said the mayor as he cried while the communications cut out.

"Alright men… The Titan Fleet is approaching. We will fight to the very last man! We will protect this colony! Those Titan monsters dropped a colony onto Copernicus City on the moon. We're going to stop these animals right here, right now! Fire all main guns and anti-air guns! Put up a barrage and aim for the Alexandria!" ordered Wakkein as the men saluted one final time and got to work. All three of the AEUG ships fired up ahead, destroying a few of the Titan Salamis cruisers in the process of trying to hit the Alexandria.

"This is Lieutenant JG Ryu Jose in the Rick-Dias, engaging enemy mobile suits now!" yelled Ryu over the communications panel as he fired his bazooka, completely demolishing two oncoming GM II's.

The AEUG colony forces were putting up a very stiff fight against the larger Titan fleet almost twice about to break through the Titan defensive lines, but soon everything was to go as expected, the Titans fighting strength would soon overwhelm the small AEUG patrol fleet as a couple of GM II's broke through the line and made their past the AEUG ships as Yazan's Hambrabi took out a few M1 Astray's with his large beam cannons and slashed one more with his beam saber.

"Commandant Wakkein! 5 enemy mobile suits have broken through with a canister of G3 gas!" yelled a crew member of the Mont Blanc.

"Fire all guns! Turn this ship around 180 degrees! Make sure those mobile suits don't touch the colony!" ordered Wakkein. "KEEP FIRING ALL GUNS!"

Ryu who noticed the 5 enemy mobile suits quickly turned back and gave chase in his Rick-Dias, taking out 2 GM II's with shots from the beam pistol. Ryu then looked back at the AEUG Salamis on fire and on the verge of explosion as one of them simply exploded and the other collided into another GM II. He then saw Yazan's Hambrabi aim its beam cannons at the bridge of the Mont Blanc and saw a large beam shot come from the Hambrabi, watching the Mont Blanc explode entirely.

"Pesky AEUG flies…" said Yazan condescendingly as he laughed.

"YOU TITAN SCUM!" yelled Ryu as he fired both the bazooka and the beam pistol at Yazan's Hambrabi which dodged all of them until Yazan got close and pulled out his beam saber and slashed through Ryu's Rick-Dias and exploded. Soon Yazan and his Titan comrades carried on with their dark, despicable deed and placed the G3 canister on the hull of the colony as Yazan punched a hole through the colony with the beam saber, and thus, releasing the G3 poison gas into the colony… Many began to choke and suffocate in the colony, gasping for air, coughing up blood as everyone in the colony died a slow… agonizing death…

"Mommy! I-I-I can't breathe… Something is choking me in the air…!" wailed a little girl as she died right in front of her mother's eyes as she died as well.

"YEA! THAT'S RIGHT! DIE YOU STUPID SPACENOID ALIENS! Earthnoid supremacy forever! Down with coordinators!" screamed Yazan as he laughed as he continued to pump the G3 into the colony until the canister was empty. By the end of the battle, only 3 M1 Astray mobile suits of the AEUG's Colony 30 patrol remained as they retreated towards Earth orbit… Right then and there, Char's newtype senses went off and soon he felt sick to his stomach. Kira then turned on a radio and saw that Char's sickness was being caused by the gassing of Colony 30. Everyone on board was shocked and utterly dismayed by the Titan's actions.

"How could they! Those animals…" said Char as he closed his eyes in dismay.

"Those Titans… I'm going to get them…" said Kira as he narrowed his eyes in anger at the radio.

Back near a secret hideout on the PLANTs for the Clyne Faction followers, Lacus sighed and turned the TV as she found out of the Colony 30 Incident.

"This war, if it doesn't end soon, will only bring fourth more destruction and sorrow…" said Lacus as she closed her eyes.

All around the space colonies and on the lunar cities, opinion shifted towards the AEUG since the AEUG patrol fleet fought bravely to the bitter end, even most of the moderate PLANTs sided somewhat with the AEUG, but could not afford to do so since they were too close in proximity to the ZAFT military forces. As a result, the AEUG would use this as a rallying battle cry against the Titans from that battle onwards: "Remember Colony 30!"

The Argama and the Kusanagi headed towards the abandoned Mendel Colony while Char and Kira launched in a separate Temptation-class shuttle launch with the Freedom and the Zeta Gundam in the back at full speed towards Aprilius One Colony of the PLANTs. Char sighed as he pulled off his trademark red-black helmet and laid back in the chair as the shuttle went on autopilot.

"I haven't been on a shuttle in a while Char. This would be my first time since I moved to Side 7." Said Kira.

"Same for me I suppose. The only thing I've been in thus far was a Saberfish and the Zeta Gundam. Just hope this thing has enough fuel to make to the PLANTs in time." Said Char.

"You want to see Lacus again, don't you Char. Don't deny it, I can tell." Said Kira as he laughed.

"Oh really? You didn't look too pleased to leave the Argama either. Murrue seemed a little depressed after you got onto the shuttle. I'm a newtype, I can most definitely tell she loves you. Heh." Said Char.

"Fine, let's just both admit we'd like to see certain someone's right now." Said Kira but then eyed the fuel gauge blinking red. "Lieutenant, the shuttle is out of fuel!"

"Then we'll have to get their in our mobile suits instead!" said Char as he and Kira rushed to the cargo area and both of them got into the Zeta and the Freedom respectively, the eyes of the gundams glowing bright neon green as the both left and launched out of the shuttle. The Zeta Gundam transformed into its waverider form with the Freedom riding on, speeding closer and closer to Aprilius One. Within half an hour, the PLANTs with their characteristic hourglass shape were in sight as Char adjusted the Zeta's flight angle towards Aprilius One, carefully and skillfully dodging the patrol units and the colony's defensive network. Finally they managed to land on an old unused civilian space gate as both Kira and Char came out, already dressed in ZAFT uniforms as disguises.

"Stay alert Kira." Advised Char as they both went down a hall and opened up a door that lead to the shuttle station lobby. They seemed to blend in perfectly among the other civilians and ZAFT personnel. Eventually they made their way to outside of the colony interior. And hopped into a buggy. Char then turned on the radio, only to hear a fiery speech from Chairman Patrick Zala.

"Do not allow yourselves to be swayed by the words of Lacus Clyne! She is nothing but a traitor to us all! She peddled our most vital military secrets to the Earth Forces! The only way there will be peace is if we kill all of the natural scum on the earth! WE MUST WIN THIS WAR! If we do not there will be a future far darker than the one we live in now! With ZAFT as our-…" yelled Patrick Zala until he was cut off.

"This is Anavel Gato! I am the second in command of the Axis, or better known as Neo Zeon! We are the ones who you filthy coordinators tried to exterminate and kill and forced us to this cold asteroid known as Axis by destroying our homeland, Side 3! You killed our leader Zeon Daikun and destroyed the Republic of Zeon! We, the newtypes of Neo Zeon under the leadership of Haman Karn shall get our revenge and smash your hourglass colonies and EXTERMINATE ALL COORDINATORS as you tried to do us! SIEG ZEON!" yelled Gato as Char suddenly swerved the car as he was shocked and disturbed by the broadcast.

"SIEG ZEON!" yelled the Zeon soldiers.

"SIEG ZEON!" yelled Gato again as his soldiers chanted back. "SIEG ZEON!"

"_Ob's stürmt oder schneit,ob die Sonne uns lacht! Der Tag glühend heiß, oder eiskalt die Nacht! Bestaubt sind die Zeoner, doch froh ist unser Sinn - ja unser Sinn!-…" _the Zeon soldiers began to sing but the broadcast was again cut off.

"Where did they go? What did they want? I am Lacus Clyne! Even as I speak many of our loved ones are losing their lives on the battlefield. We must end this conflict! We must understand that the people of earth are our brothers and sisters. We coordinators haven't somehow evolved into a separate species, neither have newtypes. And even with the restructured marriage regulations, very few children are being born into our world. What kind of highly evolved species would we be if we're unable to build our own future! Why can't newtypes, coordinators, and naturals all live in peace and harmony!" said Lacus as the radio station officially went off the air Char sighed as he kept driving. Meanwhile groups of ZAFT soldiers began to converge on the Clyne mansion with the intent to assassinate Siegel Clyne and kill his supporters. Slowly but surely, Siegel Clyne's loyalist soldiers died off and eventually he was shot to death as well, bleeding as he fell to the ground. Char felt a sickening feeling as Siegel Clyne was killed.

"Lacus's father… he's dead… I can feel it… Patrick Zala! That bastard!" yelled Char as he turned the buggy around. "We can't stay! We have to get back to our mobile suits! We'll rendezvous with the Clyne Faction near the primary gate."

"Right!" replied Kira as the buggy hurried back to the Zeta and the Freedom. Meanwhile back at the Titan's Kilimanjaro Base, the Dominion prepared for take off, and in the ship, Paptimus Scirocco and his new protégé, Flay Alster. With the Dogosse Gier launching with Murata Azrael.

"Flay my dear. You look tense. Do try to calm down." Said Paptimus as he chuckled softly.

"I'm sorry Master Paptimus, but I haven't been to space in a while…" replied Flay softly.

"Don't worry my dear Flay, as long as I am here, I will protect you…" said Paptimus as he wrapped his arms around her with Flay surprised by Scirocco's sudden actions.

"Master Paptimus…" said Flay as she enjoyed the embrace.

Back at Aprilius One, Char and Kira hurried back to their mobile suits but ZAFT soldiers had spotted them and began firing.

"That's Char Aznable and Kira Yamato! THE AEUG!" yelled a ZAFT soldiers as they began to fire at them, one of their bullets hitting Char in the shoulder as they both escaped into the Zeta and the Freedom.

"AGH! DAMN!" yelled Char as he entered the cockpit, his right shoulder bloodied up as he activated the Zeta.

"Char! Are you alright!" yelled Kira.

"Don't worry about it! Just get out of here!" yelled Char as both the Zeta and the Freedom escaped from Aprilius One and headed towards the primary space gate, fighting off many GINN's and GuAIZ mobile suits on the way. As they made their way towards the space gate, Lacus was already planning her next move after her radio broadcast. With the help of Commander Waltfeld, she successfully took control of ZAFT's newest top of the line ship, the Eternal.

"This ship is entering it's final preparation stages. I repeat, final stages. Get to work!" yelled Waltfeld as Clyne Faction soldiers took ZAFT soldiers as prisoners at gunpoint. Soon, Lacus herself entered the Eternal and took the captain's seat. "Everything is ready Miss Lacus."

"Good. But we still haven't heard from Char or Kira… I'm worried." Said Lacus.

"The Red Comet? He's probably just fine. Same with the Gundam kid." Said a ZAFT pilot turned Clyne Faction, Dearka Elsman.

"Commander Waltfeld! Your ship doesn't have orders to launch yet! What are you doing!" yelled a ZAFT officer from the control room.

"Sir! They've changed the security codes for the main gate!" said an operator aboard the Eternal.

"What a clever bunch they are. They would have been better off leaving things alone. Now our exit is going to be a little rough. Brace yourself Miss Lacus." Advised Waltfeld.

"We really don't have a choice do we? Because the way I see it, now is the time to move forward." Said Lacus as she nodded in approval.

"Prepare the main cannon! Our target: Primary Space Gate!" ordered Waltfeld as the Eternal's engines fired up and moved forward towards the gate, evading anti-air fire. "Fire!"

The main cannon fired and tore open a hole in the gate as the Eternal escaped with all of the Clyne Faction members into the hard vacuum of space. The Vesalius with Rau Le Crueset in command spotted the Eternal going at top speed, heading towards the position of the Argama nearing the old Side 3 cluster.

"Sir! We have orders to pursue the Eternal!" said a female ZAFT operator aboard the Vesalius.

"There's nothing we can do for now. The Vesalius can't match the Eternal's speed and velocity at this time, we have to leave it up to the Jachin Due's defense forces." Said Rau Le Crueset as he chuckled to himself as he thought in his mind. "The Eternal gone with Lacus Clyne, the biggest traitor to the PLANTS? Oh this is highly entertaining Chairman Zala…"

As expected, hordes of GINN's and GuAIZ mobile suits began to intercept the Eternal as Lacus sent out a plea to all of the ZAFT pilots.

"I beg of you all to let our ship go in peace. And I also remind you to think of who we really should be fighting against." Said Lacus.

"Commander Waltfeld! Incoming missiles!" yelled an operator.

"We have no choice! Fire back! Don't let those missiles hit us!" yelled Waltfeld as the ZAFT mobile suits closed in firing more missiles at the Eternal.

"They're too many of them! We're going to get hit!" yelled the operator once again as Lacus braced for impact but with a defiant look on her face. Elsewhere, heavy breathing could be heard as Char's Zeta Gundam unpacked a massive beam bazooka known as the Mega Bazooka Launcher as the Zeta repositioned itself and began targeting the massive horde of ZAFT mobile suits.

"Brace yourself Lacus!" advised Waltfeld and clenched onto the armrest of his seat, expecting an explosion and the impact but only felt a shake. "Eh!"

It was Char, the Zeta Gundam had fired the powerful Mega Bazooka Launcher and wiped out many GINN's and GuAIZ within the massive line of fire as Kira's Freedom Gundam wiped out some more mobile suits with his beam rifles and launchers.

"The Zeta Gundam and the Freedom!" remarked Waltfeld. "The youngster and the Red Comet saved our butts!"

"Casval!" Lacus yelled out as Char appeared on the screen.

"Lacus! Are you alright!" asked Char as he clenched onto his right shoulder which was already bleeding profusely throughout the cockpit, red globs everywhere, but managed a smile.

"Yes, I am fine, but… Casval, you're…" said Lacus before she got cut off but Casval as she had a concerned look on her face.

"The enemy mobile suits are retreating, Kira and I will land on the Eternal." Said Char as Lacus nodded as the video screen went blank and the Zeta and Freedom landed on the mobile suit catapult of the Eternal as the ship sped forward towards the position of the Argama and the Kusanagi. Kira opened the hatch of the Freedom as he spotted the Zeta, but Char appeared from his cockpit bloodied as medics quickly came to patch up his gunshot wound on his shoulder along with a concerned Lacus who clung onto Char tightly with Char wrapping his unwounded arm around her. Kira smiled at the sight of this as his closest friend looked happy for the first time in a long time despite his injured appearance. Soon, the Eternal, the Argama, and the Kusanagi all docked near Side 5's Mendel Colony. After which, the crew of all three ships met and shook hands, Amuro Ray was also present and shook the hand of Lacus Clyne. With that, the Clyne Faction joined the Anti-Earth Union Group.

"I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius. I must say Commander Waltfeld, this is quite a surprise…" said Murrue as she saluted.

"I'd say the feeling is mutual…" replied Waltfeld as he saluted.

"I'm surprised your joining us… You have a real reason to hate me…" said Kira.

"That's what happens in a war… All of us have our reasons, yet, none of us do…" said Waltfeld as he closed his eyes slowly and sighed.

"That's true…" said Kira.

"Casval! Casval! You look hurt! Casval not well! To bed Casval! Bed!" remarked Char's green Haro as everyone laughed.

"Yeah yeah…" said Char as he closed his eyes in embarrassment.

"Casval… Daikun?" asked Waltfeld. "You're… the son of Prime Minister Zeon Daikun of the old Republic of Zeon!"

"Surprise, surprise…" said Sleggar and Roberto as they rolled their eyes.

"But why… are…?" asked Waltfeld.

"Because revenge isn't my agenda… I just want coordinators, newtypes, and naturals to live in peace. I'll admit… my original goal after ZAFT forces destroyed Side 3 was to kill the Zala family… but after seeing Lacus again, everything changed… I have something more to live for, ideals to fight for…" said Char as Waltfeld nodded and saluted. Char looked round and saw an unfamiliar face, but saw that Henken nor Jack Bayard or Adam Stingray were present. "Where's Henken and the others?"

"Henken went to Von Braun City to take charge of his own ship. He should meet up with us momentarily." Replied Captain Bright as Char nodded and looked towards Murrue.

"Any Titan or ZAFT ships nearby?" asked Char.

"All quiet, but three ZAFT ships, one of them suspected to be the Vesalius, are closing in on us. There's also another Titan ship from the opposite direction, the Dominion…" said Murrue.

"I see…" Said Char as the Suruga, a Salamis-Kai class ship docked outside nearby.

"That's Captain Henken right now in the newly built cruiser." Said Bright.

With that, the entire colony began to shake from explosions. The Dominion was closing in as it fired its Gottfried main cannons at the colony's space gate once again. Finally the Dominion contacted the Argama.

"This is the Dominion! We demand the Argama show itself or else this entire colony will be blown apart!" yelled Scirocco.

"We have no choice, bring the Argama about 40 degrees, fire all main guns!" ordered Murrue.

"Lieutenant Ramius, use the Suruga as a shield! We'll cover you for as long as we can!" yelled Henken as the Suruga's main guns fired at the Dominion with Jack Bayard launching in his Rick-Dias mobile suit. Soon the Argama exited the space gate with Char's Zeta Gundam and Kira's Freedom on each of the Argama's flanks. Meanwhile the Dominion launched two Gabthley's and Yazan in his new mobile suit, the Hambrabi. Yazan soon showed the true capability of the Hambrabi first hand by firing out the electrical whip weapon at Jack Bayard's Rick-Dias, electrocuting the mobile suit as well as the pilot. Dunkel and Cooper in their Gabthley's flanked Jack Bayard's Rick-Dias fired their large beam rifles, completely destroying the Rick-Dias in a brilliant explosion. The Vesalius along with two other Nazca-class battleships arrived but kept their distance.

"Until we have a better understanding of the situation, it's best if we stay out of battle for now…" advised Rau Le Crueset as they watched the battle up ahead between the Argama and the Dominion.

"One down, two more to go!" yelled Yazan in arrogance as he ordered his team to fire at the Suruga as the ship fired its anti-air guns right back at them.

"Put up a thicker barrage! Can't we shoot any of them down!" yelled Henken as all of the fire was concentrated towards the Dominion. But soon the Suruga succumbed to its fate as Dunkel's Gabthley fired it's beam cannons and completely destroyed the bridge while Cooper destroyed the rest of the ship as the Suruga exploded as well.

"DAMN IT! WE'VE LOST HENKEN AND THE NEW SHIP!" yelled Char as the Zeta transformed and quickly fired and charged at Dunkel's Gabthley, tearing off the right arm. The Zeta quickly transformed back into its mobile suit form and fired the beam rifle at Cooper's Gabthley, hitting right on the mark and watched it explode in flames among the sea of stars.

"Cooper! NO! YOU BASTARD!" yelled Dunkel as he fired his dual beam cannons but Char quickly evaded and fired a barrage of heat-seeking grenades and forced Dunkel to retreat. Meanwhile Yazan and Kira were fighting it out with Kira dodging all of Yazan's shot with the dual beam rifle and the electrical whip of the Hambrabi. Kira fired his beam rifle a few times but Yazan simply evaded as well and responded with the whip and tied up the Freedom with Kira struggling.

"Kira!" yelled Char.

"Char!" Kira yelled back as the Zeta broke off the Hambrabi's whip, leaving Yazan disoriented and confused. Kira quickly fired his rifle, destroying on of the Hambrabi's legs and forced Yazan to free-fall into retreat back towards the Dominion.

"Hmm, very interesting… The Argama has both the Freedom and the Zeta Gundam… Char and Kira have gotten a lot stronger since leaving earth… We'll retreat from the battle zone back to Luna II." said Scirocco and with that, the Dominion retreated… But the battle wasn't over as Rau Le Crueset launched in his GuAIZ and Athrun in the Justice Gundam, along with a whole squadron of GINN's. The Argama launched the newly formed Rick-Dias Team, lead by Sleggar, consisting of Dearka and Roberto. The AEUG Nemo's also began to launch from the Kusanagi, intercepting the GINN's. The Rick-Dias Team assumed a positioning almost that of a straight line, almost like a jet stream as they began picking off the ZAFT GINN's. The three fanned out in a "v" formation as they all fired their bazookas at the oncoming GINN's.

"Get them!" ordered Roberto as the Rick-Dias continued their attack. Meanwhile Zeta and Rau's GuAIZ were battling away while Kira's Freedom and Athrun's Justice dueled it out nearby as well.

"You've improved… CHAR AZNABLE!" yelled Rau as he fired the GuAIZ's beam rifle but Char's Zeta Gundam evading expertly as he fired right back. "You truly do live up to your name Red Comet!"

"Your own arrogance will be your own downfall Le Crueset!" Char replied back as he countered Rau's beam claw slash with the Zeta's beam saber. The two continued to fight until Rau and Char entered the Mendel Colony interior. Seeing this, Kira quickly hit Athrun with a barrage of beam fire, allowing Kira to make his escape towards the colony interior with Char and Rau. The two continued to exchange slashes with their beam melee weapons.

"I thought if my fate was to be shot down by you today, I thought that this place would be… appropriate…" said Rau as he knocked Char's Zeta into free fall towards the ground. "But it doesn't look like there's any chance of THAT happening now is there! Destiny is firmly on my side! After all, how could the inferior one defeat the superior one!"

Right as Rau Le Crueset was going to fire the shot that would finish of Char for good Kira's Freedom Gundam rushed in, slashing the GuAIZ's arm clear off into the air with the beam saber and another slash slicing the GuAIZ right in two. Char was still inside of his cockpit as he noticed a part of the panoramic screen was shattered and a piece of shrapnel hit him in the hip, already bleeding.

"Damn that Rau Le Crueset…" muttered Char as he pulled out his pistol and opened the cockpit of the Zeta Gundam, but Rau Le Crueset had already gotten out and opened fire on Char with his own pistol as Char took cover behind the cockpit door and fired back.

"How about we do this today! Let's end this!" yelled Rau as he fired a few more shots and ran towards a large building.

"What's he up to now!" muttered Char as he fired back and gave chase. "Damnit…"

"Come with me! I myself will deliver your requiem!" yelled Rau, firing more rounds at Char who expertly evaded while Kira ran to catch up with Char.

"Char! Hold on a minute!" Kira yelled out as he ran towards him as Char and Rau Le Crueset entered the building. After a while Kira finally caught up with Char. The building they had entered had a strange shape, almost looking like a hair comb with many cylinders sticking out horizontally. It was dark and cold inside, but a few pieces of equipment appeared to be still running.

"Do you have any idea where this place is Char!" yelled Rau as he ran further in.

"Why would I you psycho!" replied Char as he clenched onto his wounded and bloody hip, clenching his pistol tightly.

"It's such a crime for you to not know!" replied Rau as he fired more rounds at Char.

"Hey Char!" yelled Kira as he ran to him.

"Kira! No!" yelled Char.

"Kira! How delightful it is for you to join us, KIRA YAMATO!" yelled Rau. "Ah! Now I see, you're the Freedom's pilot! Don't be shy! Come along with me to the place where it all began! Kira! This is where you were born too, now wasn't it!"

Kira gasped as he held a horrified and shocked look on his face as he stared into Char's face. But immediately Char shook Kira out of his trance.

"Don't fall for his tricks no matter what! No matter what he says don't believe a word of it!" ordered Char as they both gave chase. They soon got up to a room labeled "BLOCK 4: HUMAN GENE MANIPULATION ROOM." As they opened the door they were soon greeted by gunshots, both of course evaded and took cover and fired right back. They entered the large room as they spotted a huge glowing pool of blue water and within the pool were large metal cylinders. "What is this place?"

"Beats me…" replied Kira as he looked around but was fired at again but Char grabbed Kira and both of them ducked out of the way.

"Does it bring back memories Kira! You should know this place!" yelled Rau as he fired his pistol. Char quickly ran towards a slightly opened door and fired his pistol twice into the darkened room.

"Know this place?... But how?..." asked Kira as he followed Char into a room labeled "DR. HIBIKI'S LABORATORY."

Quickly Char ran in and fired at Rau Le Crueset and ran and jumped behind a couch as he fired away but was soon hit in the shoulder by Rau's shots. Char flinched in pain as Kira yelled out and ran towards Char.

"Char! Are you okay!" asked Kira but then turned around to see Rau Le Crueset with his gun pointed at him, walking closer and closer.

"I'm not going to kill you… After all I brought you through all of this trouble just to bring you here. So I'll let you live long enough to hear the whole story…" said Rau as he tossed pictures of Zeon Daikun and Casval before the days of Side 3's destruction and a picture of a woman with brunette hair holding two babies, a brunette one and a blonde one as both Char and Kira gasped.

"Did you ever suspect, Kira, that the people you've called mother father weren't actually your real parents!" asked Rau.

"You bastard! What are you-!" yelled Char before he was cut off with a gunshot from Rau's pistol.

"Of course not, if you were aware then you wouldn't have turned out the way you did. So normal and without any evidence of a tainted past. You know it never occurred to me that even after when Athrun first brought up your name that you, could have been, 'that child.' I always thought the twins had died, especially you, Kira Yamato. After all together with your real father, Dr. Hibiki you were the highest priority target of Blue Cosmos!" said Rau as Kira looked on more and more shocked and perplexed.

"Kira! Snap out of it!" yelled Char as he shook Kira out of his trance once again.

"You are the dream of humanity… The ultimate coordinator!" yelled Rau Le Crueset. "It was in pursuit of that dream that Dr. Hibiki created the artificial womb! And you were the only viable child it ever produced! For that result, a very large number of your siblings were sacrificed…"

Kira's eyes began to tear up not wanting to hear what he had just heard as Char shook him out of the trance as he fired at Rau as he ran off towards another room.

"George Glenn was the first coordinator that the world knew! But I don't think anyone realized the kind of chaos he unleashed on the world! No one understands what that man fully set into motion!" said Rau Le Crueset. "People paid a high price to realize this dream! No one wants to have their dreams shattered! Is that why people demanded that this go forward! And what did people gain from this! WHAT WAS THE RESULT OF ALL OF THIS!"

Rau went on about the history of coordinators and the rise of Blue Cosmos and their mass killings of coordinators on earth. Innocents being killed left and right. Kira and Char appalled at what they were hearing…

"They thirsted for knowledge! They wanted all of their desires fulfilled! Ultimately they forgot why they were doing it! Even as they claimed their reverence for human life they began toying with it!" yelled Rau Le Crueset. Char had heard enough from Rau and stood up and fired his pistol wildly.

"SHUT UP!" yelled Char as he fired his pistol.

"NO MATTER WHAT WE LEARN! NO MATTER WHAT WE MANAGE TO OBTAIN! NOTHING EVER CHANGES! PEOPLE ARE AMAZING IN THEIR WAYS!" yelled Rau as he fired his pistol as well, shattering random glass objects as he walked closer towards Char.

"And what gives you the right to pass judgment on humanity!" replied Char as he fired back.

"I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS EARNED THAT RIGHT! TO JUDGE UPON HUMANITY!" yelled Rau Le Crueset. "YOU THINK NEWTYPES ARE INNOCENT! OH MY DEAR CASVAL FAR FROM IT! ZEON WAS JUST AS BAD AS ZAFT WAS! TRYING TO CLONE HUMANS IN THE HOPES OF CREATING NEWTYPES AND CYBER-ENHNCED NEWTYPES! I AM HE! THAT ARROGANT FOOL WHO THOUGHT THAT HECOULD THWART DEATH WITH HIS OWN MONEY! THAT MAN, ZEON DAIKUN, YOUR FATHER! BUT I AM MERELY THAT MAN'S DEFECTIVE CLONE!"

"WHAT! YOU LIAR!" yelled Char as he fired his pistol madly at Rau Le Crueset, all of which missed completely.

"THE FINAL DOOR IS ABOUT TO OPEN! AND I'M THE ONE OPENING IT! AND SOON THIS WORLD FILLED WITH PEOPLE WITH THEIR INSATIABLE DESIRES WILL ALL COME TO AN END!" yelled Rau Le Crueset as he laughed insanely firing his gun.

"Char! I won't let it happen!" yelled Kira as he ran and picked up a shard of glass and ran across the room as Rau Le Crueset fired his gun, getting Kira in the arm but Kira threw the glass shard into Rau's face, removing his mask, revealing his true face…

"Ha! Do you think you can change what's going to happen! Nobody can do anything about it for a world full of hatred is engulfing it!"

With that Kira saw that Char was close to passing out with his wounds continuously bleeding. Kira then went to Char as he helped him up and walked back towards the Freedom and the Zeta. Rau Le Crueset had already retreated back to the Vesalius and now all three ships were closing in to attack. However, Athrun was nowhere to be found as Rau went into his CGUE and launched. Char and Kira made it back to the Argama and both were immediately dragged off by the medics, treating their wounds. Meanwhile, the Argama, the Kusanagi, and the Eternal had already picked up the three ships attacking them.

"Commander Waltfeld!" yelled out Lacus.

"Yes? What is it?" asked Andy.

"Please concentrate the fire of the Eternal and that of the Kusanagi on the Vesalius as well." Ordered Lacus.

"No way! But if we do that those three ships will do everything to shoot us down!" replied Andy.

"But plaster that ship, and we will have broken free. Our odds of being pursued will likely drop if we destroy the Vesalius." Said Lacus.

"You're right! All guns, aim for the Vesalius!" ordered Waltfeld as the Eternal opened fire on the Vesalius.

"Open all main guns! FIRE!" ordered Captain Bright as the Kusanagi followed suit.

"Fire all main mega-particle cannons! All main guns! FIRE! Break through the enemy ships!" ordered Murrue as all three ships destroyed their way through the ZAFT ships with Rau Le Crueset smirking and laughing maniacally in his CGUE, heading back towards Jachin Due. Meanwhile Char was transferred over to the Eternal to receive treatment while Kira remaind on the Argama as Murrue watched over him as Kira rested. Cagalli then came in with the same photo that Kira was given by Rau Le Crueset as Cagalli was even more shocked as she looked at the photos. Murrue looked over to Cagalli and shook her head.

"Kira is in pretty bad shape, this isn't exactly the best time." Said Murrue as she smiled while tending to Kira. Cagalli nodded and headed out of the room. Kira began to remember all of the things he had heard earlier and began to tear up and cry tears long held back since he got involved in the war. Murrue held Kira on her lap ever so closely as she kissed Kira deeply on his lips.

"Oh Kira…" she said as she sighed sadly and laid next to him in the bed.

Char was on the Eternal in Lacus's personal quarters on her bed. Char was severely wounded this time around with a gunshot wound to his right shoulder and a cut up hip. Lacus watched over him as she clenched onto her lover's soft hands and ran her fingers through Char's golden blonde hair as she sighed sadly. Char begin to stir and tried to get up but Lacus prevented Char from doing so.

"L-L-Lacus?..." said Char as he opened his eyes slowly, wincing in great pain.

"Oh Casval… You're the same always getting yourself hurt all the time…" said Lacus as she wiped off a tear of her own as Char grinned.

"I'm The Red Comet, I do whatever it takes." Said Char. "That'll never change…"

Char then saw Lacus looking through the pictures that Rau Le Crueset had thrown at him, the old pictures of Casval as a child with his father Zeon Daikun. A sudden rush of memories came rushing at Char from the incident in the Mendel Colony. He began to shake uncontrollably as he thought deeper into his past. To the One Month War Incident, the day that Side 3 was destroyed by ZAFT, all of those memories he had playing with his father in the park near a lake. They ran, they swam, they played catch, and even went fishing when time permitted for his father. Lacus looked on at Char really worried as Char looked away tearing up and shaking.

"That Rau Le Crueset… He told me… a bunch of things… All lies! He said… that my father was a conceited fool who tried to clone himself… I thought that… None of this makes any sense Lacus! It just doesn't!" yelled Char as he cried out in pain as he clenched onto his shoulder and his hip as he continued to tear up.

"Don't let it get to you Casval, my baby…" Lacus said softly as she held onto to Char.

"I… I won't… I won't let him get away with this… He's going to try to bring down the whole world with him…" said Char as he teared up further from all of his sorrow, frustration, and exhaustion from war. "After my dad died along with Side 3… I promised I'd never cry again, to be as strong, and even stronger than my dad… It's getting so much more harder to keep that promise to myself…"

"You know… It's okay to cry Casval… We should all cry while we still can." Said Lacus as she gave a gentle smile to Char, cuddling Char close to her body as Char teared up even more, struggling to keep it all in, all of his sorrow, but it was like clogging a shattering dam with a finger. He remembered how his father and all of his fellow Zeon citizens and newtypes were slaughtered by ZAFT and Patrick Zala, all of them poison gassed to death. He could remember joining the Federal Forces as a fighter pilot at Nijenmen Academy. His tears bursted out in slow droplets but the rate got faster and faster as he remembered the death of Lieutenant Apolly, his close comrade in arms since the war's start and a part of the Immortal 4th, but to Char, the Immortal 4th didn't seem so immortal after all. He remembered the death of Ramba Ral and his close mentor South Burning at Jaburo. He then flashed back to the memory of him and Lacus parting ways on Side 3 before the day of the attack. Char looked up at Lacus's gentle face and felt her beautifully perfect pink hair with her characteristic golden hair clip. This goddess in front of him was to be married to Athrun Zala, the son of his enemy, but now, Lacus was with Char once again. All of these feelings and memories combined finally broke the emotional dam that Char had so worked hard to build up to hide his true emotions and drove Char over the edge as he wailed out and cried loudly as Lacus cradled Char into her lap.

"You have too many bad dreams Casval. What matters is the person you are right here, right now…" said Lacus as she kissed Char on his lips and held tightly onto her new fiancee, laying on the bed with him. "Ever since seeing you again, I've become a much happier woman… Stay here with me, Casval, my love…"

After an hour, Amuro knocked at the door as he came in. He was at first shocked by the sight of Lacus clinging onto Char but then grinned.

"Having fun there Red Comet?" joked Amuro.

"Minus the pain in my shoulder and hip, sure…" said Char as he grinned.

"There's something you should know Char… The Titans have completed construction of Gryps 2… It's a colony laser weapon. It's already been activated… It's somewhere near the Gate of Zedan, Zeon's old asteroid base near Side 2." Said Amuro.

"I see. Tell the others that I will be down in a minute." Said Char.

"I'll be coming as well Mr. Amuro." Said Lacus as she clung to Char.

"Alright, I'll do that. See you two love birds later. Heh." Said Amuro as he went on his way while Char and Lacus kissed once more as they both made their way to the shuttle heading to the Argama. After about five minutes they finally arrived. Everyone was there, Amuro, Murrue, Captain Bright, Waltfeld, Lacus, Cagalli, Char, Kira, Dearka, Sleggar, and Roberto. They began to discuss what would be the next best course of action.

"We need to come up with a new strategy. The Titans have already activated Gryps, and ZAFT already has built the GENESIS weapon. The Titan Fleet has divided itself into 3 groups, Luna II, Konpei Island, and Granada. From the looks of things, they're going to attack ZAFT's Boaz Asteroid Base. Our objective is to get to the Gate of Zedan, where the rest of the AEUG fleet is going to gather. Any suggestions?" asked Amuro.

"Well, while we're here we should try and raid Jachin Due. It's better than just sitting around waiting to get to the Gate of Zedan." Suggested Waltfeld as Dearka, Roberto, and Sleggar nodded in approval.

"But that sort of attack would reduce us to shreds. I propose we go to the Side 3 cluster. It's more effective and will avoid any Titan or ZAFT forces." Suggested Bright as Lacus, Murrue, Kira, Cagalli nodded in approval with Roberto and Char shaking their heads.

"Is something wrong Char?" asked Amuro as he saw Char rubbing his forehead and sighing.

"No, Captain Bright's plan is the better one. As much as me and Roberto don't want to go back to the Side 3 ruins being Zeon-born, is more strategically effective than attacking Jachin Due head on. That sort of attack at this moment would be a reckless move on our part, not to mention the fact that we don't even have the battle strength to do so. With all due respect Commander Waltfeld, I support Captain Bright on this matter." Said Char.

"I believe Char has a good point. We will head to the Side 3 cluster." Said Amuro as the crew saluted and walked off. Lacus went over to Char and wrapped her arms around him.

"You really don't want to go back, do you Casval…" said Lacus as she sighed.

"No, I didn't…" said Char as he sighed. "But it's a good plan, the Titans or ZAFT won't attack us. Bright is a tactical genius."

Within a few hours, the Argama, the Kusanagi, and the Eternal finally arrived at the Side 3 cluster. They could see rows of destroyed colonies as Roberto looked out the window of the Argama and slowly wept pounding his fist against the walls as he looked on at his shattered homeland. Char sighed as he could see his home colony coming up, Zum City, and near it he could see the G3 poison gas tanks floating around from that fateful day. The former ZAFT officers aboard the Eternal could say nothing as they sighed, some of them closing their eyes and saluting the ruins in a show of respect. Some of them patted Char on the back as a form of apologies on behalf of all coordinators. Andrew Waltfeld closed his eyes as he looked away.

"I still can't believe ZAFT committed this horrible atrocity against humanity… Cold-blooded murderers… Let the souls of the innocent who died here rest in peace…" said Waltfeld as Char saw a dead body of a young girl. Immediately Char dropped to his knees, feeling weak and teared up in disgust of what he just saw and wept as well. Lacus immediately took Char into her lap on her chair and softly caressed his cheeks and his hair to calm him down as he cried. The passed by some more wreckage as they drew closer to the colony, seeing the wreckage of a Zeon Gwazine-class battleship with a few Musai-class cruisers; wreckage of the Axis Advance Force no doubt; pieces of old Zaku II and Rick-Dom II mobile suits floating about along with a destroyed Nazca-class cruiser with a battered GINN floating about. As empty as Side 3 might have seemed, the three ships weren't alone. Entering the colony was a ZAFT shuttle, big enough to carry one mobile suit. As the shuttle opened up Athrun Zala appeared and activated the Justice Gundam and hid behind the space gate and spied on the three approaching ships. Pretty soon the Argama picked up the shuttle entering the colony.

"Ma'am, we've detected what looks like to be a ZAFT escape shuttle. There also appears to be a mobile suit as well, it appears the Justice Gundam." Said Torres.

"Have the Eternal send out the Zeta and the Freedom. Have Roberto launch as back up." Ordered Murrue. As Char went towards the mobile suit hangar Lacus hugged onto Char with a pleading look, almost as if she didn't want Char to leave her side.

"Casval, be careful, please…" pleaded Lacus as she kissed him.

"I will, don't worry about me Lacus." Replied Char as he kissed her back and smiled, joining Kira to the trip to the hangar. Char and Kira went to their respective mobile suits, both of them activated and their eyes glowing bright green. Char's Zeta went to the launch catapault first.

"Char, in the Zeta Gundam, launching!" yelled Char as the Zeta launched into space and transformed into the waverider towards the colony's entrance.

"This Kira Yamato in the Freedom! Launching!" yelled Kira as he followed Char's Zeta into the colony, joining them was Roberto in his Rick-Dias. Soon all three of them landed in the space gate and all of them exited their mobile suits and followed Char into the ruins of Zum City. They walked inwards and opened many hatches until they finally got inside. The looked around as the colony was now a desert with wind, dirt, and dust blew into their faces. The evidence of the ZAFT poison gas attack was still very evident as they passed by many dead bodies, mummified from being dried up after death. Kira looked over and saw a dead body sitting on a bench but saw the head roll off the shoulders as Kira looked away in disgust.

"How can they just leave the bodies like this!" said Kira.

"There are too many of them to bury. When people don't trust each other and fear one another, it leads to things like this. When that happens, everyone starts looking evil and that's when people make the wrong decisions." Said Char.

"Could anyone kill for such a purpose!" asked Kira.

"Some people kill one another for a small amount of money, Patrick Zala's reason makes much more sense…"

Char then sensed someone behind them with a gun pointing at them. Char turned around and saw that it was Athrun Zala with a pistol.

"You! The blonde one! I've come here to ask you a few questions!" yelled Athrun.

"Athrun Zala… right? Fine, go ahead and ask me what you will." Said Char as Kira and Roberto drew their pistols at Athrun.

"Char Aznable, who are you really! I remember you said something to me about my father killing your father back on Jaburo!" yelled Athrun.

"Yes, that's correct. I did say that. I am Casval Zum Daikun. The son of Zeon Zum Daikun." Said Char.

"What really happened here… Tell me Char…" said Athrun.

"Your father decided to declare war on the Republic of Zeon despite our peaceful pleas for peace. But instead, your father responded with this…" said Char. "It doesn't take long for anyone to see the evidence of your father's cruelty…"

Char then walked over towards a patch of grass near the bench and picked up a battered teddy bear and sighed and walked over to Athrun who at first backed away with his gun still pointed at him. But eventually Athrun dropped his pistol as Char handed Athrun the battered child's toy.

"This stuffed animal used to belong to an innocent child… This child probably had a promising future, but it was cut short because of your father's ignorance. He saw newtypes as a threat to the coordinator's existence because he was afraid and alarmed at the rate of how naturals were adapting and slowly evolving into newtypes. Newtypes aren't superhuman, but they have great insight into human emotions, but your father, Patrick Zala didn't see it that way. Blinded by his own arrogance he started this long and bloody war!" yelled Char as Athrun sighed as he held onto the toy. "The same goes for the corrupt Earth Federation, only pawns of Blue Cosmos. Those Titans, whose souls are weighed down by gravity oppress those who live in space… Why can't they realize that moving out into space will expand their horizons!"

"How's Lacus…" asked Athrun.

"She's doing just fine." Responded Char.

"I'm surprised you haven't killed me yet." Said Athrun.

"At one point, I wanted to kill you. But I realized that it wouldn't make me anymore happy, so I gave up on revenge." Said Char as he sighed. "I have no desire to kill you, but believe me, I have no desire to ever see your face again. Especially here on these hallowed grounds… On behalf of the dead Zeon here, leave."

"Athrun…" said Kira as he glared at his former best friend.

"Kira, do me a favor and stay alive… And Char, take good care of Lacus. She's your wife now…" said Athrun as he walked off. With that Char, Kira, and Roberto went back to their mobile suits and headed back for the ships while a shuttle launched towards Earth orbit. The three reported seeing nothing in the colony. Kira and Roberto went back to the Argama while Char went to the Eternal. After a few hours, the three ships were well on their way to the AEUG HQ at the Gate of Zedan, which gave the crew some valuable downtime. Kira headed over to Murrue's quarters for a dinner that was pretty decent considering the circumstances. Both of them immediately embraced on another and kissed. The scene that would ensue would be one of comedy as Murrue fed Kira meatball and both sucked in on a single noodle as they both met in the middle and kissed once again. The two giggled afterwards, holding onto each other. Meanwhile a similar scene was happening with Char and Lacus as they began to indulge in activities that would be best described as something one would see in an adult film. As the two finished, looking very flustered, both of them came out as the ships approached the Gate of Zedan. Around them they could see dozens upon dozens of other AEUG Salamis-Kai class cruisers painted in the pale green colors of the AEUG. As the AEUG Fleet convened at the Gate of Zedan, the Titans began to prepare for the assault on Boaz…

"Finally, we will get to see the true strength of the Gryps Colony Laser…" Muruta thought to himself as the colony laser was reaching critical threshold at 38 percent.

"Adjusting target angle minus 40 degrees, vector set. Focused on the target: Boaz Main Spacegate!" the loudspeaker sounded as Gryps fired a large laser beam at Boaz, completely vaporizing any ZAFT ships or mobile suits in the line of fire. Many GINN's, GuAIZ, and Nazca-class cruisers were destroyed in the blast along with Boaz being broken into pieces. The massive Titan fleet consisting of the Dominion, a handful of Alexandria-class cruisers, and many dark grey Salamis-Kai class continued on towards the PLANTS, but Patrick Zala still remained determined to win the battle as he watched Boaz get blown apart by Gryps.

"Damn those natural scum!" yelled Patrick Zala. "Le Crueset! I'm heading to Jachin Due! We'll strike back with GENESIS!"

"Yes sir!" replied Le Crueset as he chuckled to himself. 'You're just far too impatient Chairman Zala…'

At that precise moment, the Axis Zeon launched all of their ships from the Axis asteroid, with Haman Karn's Gwadan as the flagship heading for ZAFT's rear flank. Axis had finally returned, but this time with the spirit of Zeon with a vengeance as Musai-Kai after Musai-Kai with Gaza-C mobile suits all over the place preparing to attack the ZAFT forces. Since most of ZAFT's forces were focused on defending Jachin Due, Axis rolled over the inferior defense ships with relative ease as Gaza-C's preyed upon the ZAFT GINN's and GuAIZ mobile suits. A green and blue transformable mobile suit, the Gaplant lead a squadron of Gaza-C's dragging along a tank of G3 poison gas as they sped towards the Aprilius 6 PLANT as Gato smirked as he looked at his hourglass target.

"FOR THE REBIRTH OF ZEON! FOR THE REVIVAL OF ZEON'S IDEALS! FOR THE GLORY OF OUR HOMELAND, I HAVE RETURNED!" shouted Gato as the Gaplant transformed as he slashed his way through 3 GuAIZ but found himself stopped by the Duel Gundam piloted by non other than ZAFT ace pilot Yzak Joule. Gato countered by firing the beam cannons of the Gaplant but Yzak easily evaded and fired back with his beam rifle. Gato smirked as he pulled out his beam saber and slashed off the right leg of the GuAIZ and watched as he fell into freefall. As he impaled another GINN with his beam saber.

"It's like a bad dream! A terrible nightmare!" yelled the ZAFT pilot as his GINN exploded.

"I AM THE NIGHTMARE OF SOLOMON! I DARE YOU COORDINATOR SCUM TO FIGHT ME!" yelled Gato as the Gaplant transformed again speeding towards the outer hull of the hourglass colony with 3 other Gaza-C's holding the G3 in place. Yzak immediately noticed this and spotted the G3.

"No! They're going to poison gas the PLANTS!" as he attempted to prevent them from doing so, the Duel Gundam going at top speed. But it was already too late as Gato and the other Gaza-C punctured many holes into Aprilius 6, air escaping with people screaming for help.

"Now you coordinator scum will now know what it feels like to have your innocent people get killed and have your homeland destroyed! YOU BASTARDS! SIEG ZEON!" yelled Gato as the Gaza-C's began to pour in the G3 gas, the people inside choking, screaming in pain and agony just as the Zeon people had to feel before the war began. Immediately Char, Kira, and Lacus felt a sickening sensation within them as Aprilius 6 was poison gassed, with all of its inhabitants dead. The AEUG Fleet had already begun its move as the Kusanagi and a few Salamis-Kai cruisers commenced Operation Maelstrom as the AEUG Fleet encircled and eventually took control of Gryps while the Argama and the Eternal hastily made their way towards the ensuing battle at Jachin Due. As they finally arrived, ZAFT fired its GENESIS weapon, firing a large electrified, multi-colored laser that hit and wiped out one-third of the oncoming Titan fleet. Patrick Zala then ordered GENESIS to fire at reinforcements coming from Konpei Island and did so, completely destroying Konpei Island and all of the Federal Forces inside. And now the real battle begun as the Titan Hizack's launched from the hordes of Salamis-Kais and the Alexandria class ships that remained attack oncoming GINN's and GuAIZ mobile suits of ZAFT.

"Chairman Zala! The Axis Zeon have attacked and destroyed Aprilius 6!" a ZAFT officer informed.

"WHAT! THE AXIS ZEON ALREADY MADE THEIR RETURN! DAMN THOSE NEWTYPE BASTARDS!" yelled Patrick Zala as he banged his fist, knowing the noose was being tied around the ZAFT forces by the Titans and Axis. "We'll take out the Earth Federation first! Fire GENESIS again! This time our target is the Earth Federation's HQ at Jaburo, South America!"

"Chairman Zala! We are defeated! We should surrender now and stop any further bloodshed! This war has gone on long enough!" yelled another officer.

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING! WE MUST WIN THIS WAR! ALL OF THE NATURALS MUST DIE! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A TRAITOR!" yelled Chariman Zala as he fired his pistol three times into the chest of the officer and proceeded to re-align GENESIS. "WE COORDINATORS MUST KILL THEM ALL! WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT!"

As Patrick Zala yelled on, the doors to the main control room opened as dozens of ZAFT soldiers with machine guns fired on Patrick Zala, shooting the insane tyrant dead until he hit the ground. Everyone was shocked as they saw their leader get shot to death. Behind the group of soldiers was Eileen Canaver, a trusted ally of Siegel Clyne. In the distance, they could also see GENESIS exploding from within as the entire weapon was engulfed in an explosion caused by the Gryps Colony Laser of the AEUG.

"This war must end. Send an SOS to the AEUG and tell them that ZAFT surrenders to the AEUG only." Ordered Eileen as she had her men remove Patrick Zala's body from the room.

"Yes ma'am! At once!" replied an officer as he sent the SOS to the Argama and the Eternal. However, despite the fact that ZAFT had surrendered, Rau Le Crueset had launched in his Providence Gundam along with an entire squadron of GuAIZ mobile suits that countered the Hizacks, destroying a few of them as Rau passed through them with his beam saber. He then released the Providence Gundam's DRAGOON bits and made them encircle Dunkel's Gabthley. Completely oblivious to this, Dunkel foolishly stayed in place and fired his fedayeen rifle at the Providence Gundam, only to be shot at from many different directions by the bits, completely destroying the Gabthley in a brilliant explosion. Yazan upon seeing his comrade die immediately gave chase to Rau Le Crueset in his Hambrabi firing the sea serpent weapon at the Providence but Rau dodged it and cut the line off with one of the bits.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR KILLING DUNKEL YOU PIECE OF COORDINATOR SHIT!" yelled Yazan in rage as he fired the dual beam rifle of the Hambrabi, but each shot missing.

"Yazan Gable, your own arrogance killed you. What a shame…" said Rau Le Crueset as he laughed maniacally as all of the bits surrounded the Hambrabi and completely destroyed the mobile suit along with Yazan in another brilliant explosion. The Argama had already launched the Rick-Dias Team as they took on the Titan Hizack's and Axis Gaza-C's, taking down the Hizack's one by one, shooting their beam pistols and their bazooka's, protecting the now neutral PLANTS while the Zeta and the Freedom (docked with a METEOR unit) charged towards Rau Le Crueset's Providence as it battled the Palace Athene being piloted by Flay Allster and Scirocco's The O.

Meanwhile Flay, Kira, and Rau Le Crueset were tangled up in a three-way battle, both the Freedom and the Palace Athene trying to dodge all of the shots of the DRAGOON bits of the Providence Gundam. As Char tried to get a clear shot on Scirocco with the Mega Bazooka Launcher, Kira then suddenly felt a strange but familiar sensation from the Palace Athene. All the while the Zeta Gundam and The O were doing battle exchanging beam shots and beam saber slashes.

"Char! So it is true! The Red Comet has joined the AEUG! Such precious newtype talent wasted!" said Scirocco with a smug voice.

"What makes you so superior Scirocco!" yelled Char. "You're a traitor to all newtypes everywhere! Joining the Titans, whose souls are weighed down by gravity!"

"You're still just a child boy! Don't you dare lecture me when you don't know what you're even talking about!" retorted Scirocco as he fired his large beam rifle and slashed off one of the arms of the Zeta Gundam. 'I'm sensing a strange pressure from him, what could it be?...'

"You're nothing but a fraud Paptimus Scirocco! You're only using Flay Allster for your own purposes you sick bastard!" yelled Char as he fired the Mega Bazooka Launcher at The O and managed to damage a part of the skirt armor.

"Damn! Char has the advantage, I have to withdraw for now and leave things in Flay's hands…" said Scirocco as The O retreated from battle.

"Flay! Flay Allster! Is that you piloting that mobile suit!" Kira yelled out.

"Kira! Is that you! KIRA!" Flay called out, but in this moment of distraction, Rau Le Crueset immediately capitalized on the opportunity and fired all of his bits towards the Palace Athene but the Freedom blocked all of the shots with the anti-beam shield.

"Kira…" Flay said as she smiled. But the moment wouldn't last for much longer as one of the bits went behind her and fired, engulfing the entire mobile suit in an explosion.

"FLAY!" yelled Kira in disbelief, his eyes widened in shock as he could hear Rau Le Crueset's menacing laugh.

"Foolish girl! A moment's distraction will kill you!" said Rau Le Crueset as he laughed.

"Rau… Rau Le Crueset… You did that! YOU KILLED FLAY! YOU MURDERER!" yelled Kira as his eyes began to tear up, Kira's rage slowly building up as he choked back his tears but couldn't as he remembered the last comrade Rau Le Crueset had killed, Lieutenant Apolly... "Murderer… Murderer! MURDERER! MURDERER!"

Kira's rage had finally gotten to the breaking point as the Freedom spread out it's wing binders as Kira fired his beam rifle in a frenzy destroying all of the Providence's bits. Draining the beam rifle of all of its energy the Freedom slashed off the Providence's backpack unit right off along with the right arm.

"You think you have the right to judge all of humanity with your arrogance! Well you're wrong! Deep down humanity is good at heart and they will all eventually change for the better! People like yourself need to be removed from the world!" yelled Kira as he turned around and charged straight for Rau as he just kept on laughing until of course, the Providence Gundam was impaled by Kira's beam saber. Rau's laughter turned silent as he gave one last smug smirk while his helmet cracked open as the Providence exploded, Kira breathing heavily. Char's Zeta then showed up next to the Freedom.

"Kira! Are you alright? Let's get you back to the Argama!" said Char, but all he could hear was tears. Char sighed as he grabbed onto the Freedom's arm and dragged Kira back towards the Argama.

"Char… I… I was supposed to protect someone… but I couldn't…" said Kira as he cried in his cockpit.

"I see…" was all Char could say as they finally touched down on the Argama, at the same time coping with the grim reality of the Axis Zeon's return to the Earth Sphere, and tailing right behind them was Haman Karn, the Gwaden, and the rest of the massive Axis fleet. "That Paptimus Scirocco, the man from Jupiter… He used Flay as his own pawn, like a child's plaything…"

"IT'S ALL HIS FAULT CHAR! I WILL GET REVENGE FOR FLAY FOR SCIROCCO DOING SUCH A DESPICABLE THING TO HER!" yelled Kira as he cried, running out of the cockpit past all of the mechanics towards a quiet part of a corridor as Char sighed and returned to the Eternal where he was embraced with a warm welcome from Lacus. Char leaned on her shoulder extremely exhausted as she guided Char to her room. With the PLANTS now fully supporting the AEUG, Dearka decided to help defend the PLANTS from further Axis and Titan attacks by staying behind at Jachin Due, leaving the Argama. After abut half an hour, Amuro had contacted both the Argama and the Eternal to inform them that Axis had already returned, which at this point, everyone already knew. Bright was also on a laser comm. channel listening in on the meeting from the Kusanagi.

"So the Ghost of Zeon has risen from its shell…" said Char.

"What exactly is the battle strength of Axis anyway?" asked Bright.

"I wouldn't know, I've never been to Axis, but Roberto might now." Replied Char. "But I do know this, they're lead by a powerful newtype, and her name is Haman Karn…"

Lacus sighed and almost shuddered at the sound of her name as she looked on at Char sadly.

"She's someone I used to know, a friend I guess you could say… But all her life she's been power hungry… She's twisting my father's ideals to fit her own purposes! She's misleading my people! Haman Karn needs to be stopped and so does Axis!" barked Char.

"Char is right! Axis is a major threat to the Earth Sphere! I used to be a former Axis Zeon, so I'd know! And let me tell you this! Their battle strength far outweighs that of the Titans and the AEUG combined. They didn't have mobile suits when Side 3 was destroyed, but the Zeons were so obsessed with revenge to the point where they developed highly advanced transformable mobile suits out in the asteroid belt, their main product, the Gaza-C. But the mobile suit that Haman Karn uses is quite different… The Qubeley… It uses a psycommu system to more easily interface with the pilot's mind, and in this case, better suited for a newtype. It uses mind-controlled remote bits called funnels, they can shoot from all directions…" said Roberto. "For a while now Axis had been sending in Advance Forces to earth and to the PLANTS to fight ZAFT… I was a part of the African Liberation Front…"

"I see. But our main objective is to take care of the Titans first. Then Axis." Said Amuro.

"If I may Mr. Amuro…" said Lacus as she chimed into the conversation.

"Go ahead Miss Lacus." Said Amuro as he nodded.

"What if we could make peace with Axis? I'll be the AEUG's diplomatic representative for this matter here on the Eternal…" said Lacus.

"Making peace with Haman is like trying to fit a circular peg into a square hole… It won't work…" said Char.

"I believe you, but it's always worth a try…" said Lacus.

"Though I hate this idea, but I have to agree, making peace with the Axis Zeon will benefit the AEUG more in the long run." Said Amuro. "I'll contact you all later."

As the conversation ended, elsewhere the Titans were regrouping at their Luna II Asteroid Base, and forming into two bigger Titan fleets. As Scirocco's Dominion pulled up beside the Dogosse Gier being commanded by Muruta Azrael, the two finally met again as their ships in Luna II. Scirocco smirked but then saluted his superior, but Muruta looked very much displeased.

"I heard the Palace Athene was destroyed in battle…" said Muruta as he glared into Scirocco's face. "I can understand the loss of the Hambrabi and the Gabthley's. Everyone knew Yazan was just an arrogant fool in over his head, but the Palace Athene!"

"A tragic loss, but we still have the advantage…" said Scirocco as he chuckled.

"I don't like you or your attitude Scirocco…" said Muruta. "The only reason why I haven't put you up for court martial is because you're going to make up for your mistakes by setting up this meeting with Haman Karn for me. If the Titans make the alliance with Axis, then the AEUG is finished."

"Yes sir." Said Scirocco as he glared but then turned around and smirked. 'You're just too impatient Azrael…'

The Titans began replacing the stalwart Hizack with a newer mass-production model based off of the designs of the Hambrabi and the Gabthley, the Barzam, all of them painted in mostly bold with some outlining features in a gold-like color. Scirocco looked back at Muruta and chuckled to himself… Meanwhile the Gwadan and the rest of the Axis fleet made up of Musai-Kai's met up with the Kusanagi, the Argama, and the Eternal. The meeting was to held on the Gwadan as Bright, Amuro, Char, Murrue, Kira, Lacus, and Roberto boarded a shuttle and landed on the Gwadan for the meeting. As they were escorted by armed Axis soldiers, they passed by many ornate hallways, filled with portraits of Gihren Zabi and Zeon Daikun. They all stopped as one of the soldiers pulled out a security card and stuck it into a slot as the door began to open.

"Representatives of the AEUG… The Princess of Neo Zeon… Haman Karn!" said the soldier as all of them bowed down to Haman. She was wearing a long black dress, and wore an ornate golden tiara that seemed to go down her cheeks with Zeon markings on it. She had a smirk on her face, a smirk that told the group that she didn't think too highly of them. She then gave an even more devious smirk to Lacus as she glared right back with an angry expression rarely seen on the songstress. But then Haman fixed her attention at the blonde wearing his trademark sunglasses, Char Aznable. She glared at him for a minute, but then her expression changed into that of a seductive look as Haman placed a finger to her lips as she stood up and walked down the red carpeting leading up to the throne and stopped.

"Well. Heh. What bring the AEUG to my royal chambers?" asked Haman slyly as she smirked at Char especially.

"I am Amuro Ray, the CEO of Anaheim Electronics and the sponsor of the Anti-Earth Union Group. We wish to forge an alliance with Axis against the Titans." Said Amuro.

"Heh. So I see." Said Haman as she began thinking to herself. "I will only accept an offer of alliance if that man next to you with the sunglasses, Char Aznable, bows down to me and begs for my help. And that you recognize me as the legitimate leader of Zeon!"

Char didn't even dignify Haman's request with a response as he glared at Haman, shaking his clenched fist slightly in anger as Lacus placed her hand on Char's shoulder to calm him down a little.

"Oh is the Red Comet too proud to swallow his pride for an alliance? Then how about ruling Axis by my side, Casval Daikun. I promise it'll be a decision both of us will like…" said Haman as she teasingly ran her fingers across Char's cheeks, greatly angering Lacus. "I could offer so much more than that… Well, you know what they say about teen pop singers… All of them sluts, especially coordinator girls who steal other women's men!"

"Bite me…" Lacus whispered under her angry breath she began to say other things in her mind. 'Get away from MY man you… you… disgusting hideous animal!'

"How dare you talk about Lacus that way!" yelled Char as he lept at Haman Karn with a punch but she quickly jumped out of the way and was soon restrained by Axis soldiers. Quickly Char punched out one of the soldiers and kicked the other into the one he had just punched out. "You're not the real leader of Zeon! The real leader of Zeon is elected by the people! And you sure as hell were not elected by the citizens of Zeon!"

"Char! Stop it!" yelled Amuro. Soon all of them were surrounded by more Axis soldiers and were then thrown into the brig of the Gwadan. "Nice going Char. Thanks to you we're in this inescapable mess!"

"Shut up Amuro! You have no idea how much pride swallowing I had to do to even come to these negotiations! Look who's idea it was in the first place to go ahead with this plan to make peace with Haman, AMURO!" yelled Char.

"Amuro, just stop it! None of this was Casval's fault! It was bound to happen, and if Casval didn't do something, I would have! So just save it Amuro and quit accusing my fiancée!" yelled Lacus as she teared up and cried as she threw herself into Char's arms.

"You're only defending Char because you two are lovers!" yelled Amuro but Kira immediately stood between Amuro and the crying Lacus who was in the arms of Char who was trying to comfort her the best he could.

"Mr. Amuro. I understand your frustration, everyone is. But our bickering won't solve the predicament we are in right now. We all have to work together if we're going to get out alive." Said Kira as Murrue and Bright nodded in approval.

"I couldn't have said that any better Kira, well put. I agree, and I know how to get off of this ship. I saw this ship being constructed while being at Axis, and I studied the blueprints pretty well. And all of the brig doors had one defect, twist the knob once to the right, and twice to the left and the door will open. Once we all get out, follow me." Said Roberto. "Kira, Char, I need you to take out the guard right near our door as soon as I open it."

"Right!" both of them said as Roberto used the defective door trick and opened it with the guard completely confused as he saw Char and Kira charge at the guard and strangled him to death. Soon afterwards Roberto lead the group down the hall to the right and went past a few more corridors as Char and Kira pulled out pistols they got off of the dead guard from earlier as they got to the hangar with the AEUG shuttle in sight. They all decided to make a break for the shuttle as Char and Kira covered their escape, picking off oncoming Axis soldiers. Finally Char and Kira boarded the shuttle, making a forceful exit from the Gwadan's hangar and contacted the Argama, Kusanagi, and the Eternal, commanding them to give them covering fire and told Torres who was currently controlling the Argama to release the dummy asteroid balloons to throw off the Gwadan's radar. Within minutes, the shuttle made it back onto the Argama as all three AEUG ships made their escape past the Gwadan towards the Gate of Zedan.

"Impressive, the Argama managed to block both our visual and radar sensors…" said Haman as she smirked. "You got away this time Casval, but next time, you won't be as lucky…"

The Dominion along with 3 Titan Salamis-Kai ships approached the Gwadan, preparing for the next round of negotiations, this time between the Titans and Axis. Muruta Azrael boarded a shuttle bound for the Gwadan. While Scirocco boarded the Gwaden with his mobile suit, The O. As they both landed in the hangar, being targeted by armed Axis soldiers, the two finally met again face to face since their last argument at Luna II. Muruta looked rather displeased while Scirocco only chuckled as a group of Axis troops led them to the conference room. Already seated there was Haman Karn along with two Axis soldiers keeping guard for Haman's safety. Both Scirocco and Muruta took their seats.

"So, what have you two Titans have for…?" asked Haman Karn, somewhat rather annoyed.

"We wish to form an alliance with Axis on behalf of the Titans." Said Muruta.

"Reliable sources tell me that the Earth Federation is on the verge of severing all ties with the Titans. Apparently your actions at Side 6's Colony 30 greatly displeased many people on Earth." Said Haman as she smirked.

"That's absurd! Those bureaucrats can't change their minds so easily!" yelled Muruta.

"I don't care one way or the other. What matters is that I control outer space. You Titans, whose souls are weighed down by gravity are hardly a threat." Said Haman as her smirk turned into a wicked grin.

"I take offense! What a bold girl you are, and to think I was offering to form an alliance with Axis, but after THESE remarks…" said Muruta before he got cut off by Haman.

"Well maybe you're the ones who should be thinking of joining me. And what of the man from Jupiter?" as she turned and faced Scirocco.

"I believe your views are correct. The ones whose souls are weighed down by gravity are unfit to lead the people of outer space. But, that doesn't matter as I have pledged my loyalty to his Excellency Muruta Azrael and the Titans…" said Scirocco as he smirked while Muruta glared at Scirocco angrily. With that, Scirocco reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a pistol and quickly killed the two Axis soldiers that were guarding Haman and quickly aimed it at Haman who was unfazed by what was happening. All she did was smirk and then laugh.

"You realize what will happen to you if you kill me in the heart of my own ship?" said Haman.

"I realize that, but it's better than letting someone as dangerous as yourself to live." Said Scirocco as he returned the smirk.

"That's one way of thinking about it." Said Haman as he pulled off one of her earrings and tossed it to the ground, releasing cyanide gas, quickly Scirocco and Muruta escaped out into the hall and into another room as Muruta coughed and Scirocco still wielding his pistol.

"Where is Haman Karn!" asked Muruta as he slowly recovered.

"She's gone. Looks like it's just us two, Muruta Azrael…" Scirocco said as he smirked and pointed the pistol to the Blue Cosmos leader's head.

"Scirocco! Then this…!" said Muruta as he looked on in absolute horror and fear.

"Was a trap… Just for you! Goodbye Muruta!" yelled Scirocco as he shot and killed the leader of the Titans. With that, Scirocco quickly made his way towards the hangar with all of the Axis soldiers shooting away at him and finally made it into the cockpit of The O. He aimed the large beam rifle towards the floor and punctured a hole in the Gwaden and escaped towards the Dominion and broadcasted an open message to the ships.

"This is an open message to all of the Titan Fleet! His Excellency Muruta Azrael is slain at the hands of Haman Karn! His Excellency's last words: Wipe the Gwaden from the skies!" yelled Scirocco as he smirked, his master plan to take over the Titans was working to his liking as he waited for Haman Karn to launch. And soon enough, Haman launched in her Qubeley and with whole squadrons of Gaza C's while the Titans launched their Barzams and engaged in battle.

"Ah! There you are Haman!" yelled Scirocco as he fired his beam rifle at the Qubeley but she quickly dodged all of The O's shots and fired back with her own beam shots from the hands of the Qubeley and smirked.

"You're obviously unaware of what this machine is capable of…" said Haman as she smirked as the Qubeley released her many funnels and aimed them at Scirocco.

"Don't you dare underestimate me Haman Karn!" said Scirocco as he dodged all of the shots from the funnels as he fired back with his beam rifle.

"Impressive, but you can't keep that up forever…" said Haman as she continued to release more funnels at The O.

"I can… see them!" said Scirocco as his newtype senses kicked in and fired his beam rifle at the funnels and with superhuman efficiency destroyed them one by one. With that Haman used her newtype powers as a pink aura surrounded the Qubeley and lunged at The O, sending sparks towards Scirocco, but he fought right back as a yellow aura surrounded The O and went right back to Haman. "Such intense pressure, but I won't let a mere mobile suit defeat me!"

Both The O and the Qubeley were sent backwards. With both fleets leaving the area, both of them were forced to retreat. Soon after the battle ended, Scirocco landed back on the Dominion while all of the Titan ships stormed the Gwaden but only to lose two of the Salamis-Kai vessels that accompanied the Dominion as they retreated towards Luna II to regroup. With Scirocco now in control of the Titans, he planned the Titans next counteroffensive against the AEUG, to recapture the Gryps Colony Laser. The entire Titan fleet launched from Luna II with the Dominion as the flagship, along with a few Alexandria-class vessels spearheading the fleets…

Meanwhile Amuro and Char sat in the cafeteria of the Eternal as they ate their dinner. Amuro looked up at Char and sighed.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier…" said Amuro.

"You're forgiven. I can understand your frustration at the time. I'd probably have done the same thing if I was in your position. But you got to understand Amuro, Haman Karn is a snake in the grass. You turn your back on her for a second, and she'll stab you in the back. She's that psychotic about getting power. That's all that she cares about." Said Char as he munched on his roll.

"I'm starting to understand that. Apparently the Titans also tried negotiating with Haman Karn, but that also got screwed up for them somehow or another. The Titan Fleet from Luna II has mobilized and is on their way to the Gryps Colony Laser. The AEUG fleet doesn't have that many ships, we only have a maximum of 20 ships…" said Amuro.

"Then our only chance at success is if we use the colony laser. If we can lure the Titan fleet into the line of fire along with the Axis fleet, then we can counterattack Axis and end this dreadful war." Said Char as Lacus slowly walked up from behind, listening in. "I'm… I'm tired… Sometimes I just… don't think I can carry on. I've lost so many friends in battle… My mind… I'm exhausted… Newtypes aren't supermen, Amuro…"

Lacus sighed as she cuddled up to Char with Kira taking a seat next to Amuro. Amuro then nodded and soon left the cafeteria as Char and lacus held onto each other.

"When will this war end Char… When…" said Kira as he sighed.

"It will all end once we defeat Haman and Scirocco… It will end then Kira…" said Char.

"Casval… When this war is over… Let's go back to the PLANTS, and get married… Raise children and live normal lives in peace… Promise me that after you defeat Scirocco and Haman, you'll come back to me…" said Lacus as she clung to her lover as Char held her close while Kira couldn't help but smile.

"I promise, Lacus… I promise I will…" said Char as he kissed her deeply as the rest of the ZAFT soldiers smiled, laughed, and clapped as Char gave a playful grin to everyone as he looked down at Lacus and his gold, red ruby comet pendant and sighed.

Soon, the Titan Fleet opened fire on Gryps, forcing the AEUG Fleet to go on combat alert as the AEUG fired back as they tried their gamble to split their forces into 3 groups in a classic double pincer manuever, the Argama, the Kusanagi, and the Eternal would stay at Gryps to prepare colony's transformers to collect enough energy for the colony laser to fire at full capacity while the rest of the fleet split into two groups, flanking the Titan and Axis fleets and forcing them into the line of fire. It was a huge gamble, but it was the only way the AEUG was going to have any chance of survival, much less success. The Titans launched all of their Barzam mobile suits with Scirocco's The O in the lead. At the same time Haman Karn and her whole horde of Gaza C's launched from the Axis ships as well. With Gryps only at 47 capacity and slowly increasing, the AEUG launched their Nemo mobile suits as well to counter.

"Rick-Dias Team! Launching!" said both Sleggar and Roberto as they both launched in their Red Rick-Dias into the three-way battle between the AEUG, the Titans, and Axis.

"Char Aznable here! In the Zeta Gundam! Let's do this thing!" yelled Char as the Zeta launched with the Mega Bazooka Launcher from the Eternal.

"Kira Yamato! In the Freedom! Launching!" yelled Kira as he followed suit with Char.

"Deploy one of the METEOR units!" commanded Waltfeld as one of the METEOR's detached and docked with the Freedom and quickly caught up with Char.

"Kira! Go and take care of Scirocco, I will take care of Haman. Roberto!" yelled Char as the hand of the Zeta clutched onto the foot of Roberto's Rick-Dias. "You're with me. I need someone to provide me cover for when I fire the Mega Bazooka Launcher."

"Right. Roger that Lieutenant Char." said Roberto as he followed the Zeta towards the advancing Axis forces. As soon as the Zeta began picking up Gaza C's on the sensors, he began targeting the massive formation of pink mobile suits as the Mega Bazooka Launcher fired and wiped out most of the formation as they were consumed by explosions and the large beam.

"What the!" yelled Haman as she looked behind to see most of her mobile suit forces that launched were destroyed. "Char! You won't get anymore!"

"He's here!" said Scirocco.

Char quickly prepared for his second shot towards the Qubeley but Haman quickly reacted as she deployed her funnels and fired upon Char, forcing the Zeta to abandon the Mega Bazooka Launcher as he watched it get destroyed by the Qubeley's funnels.

"Damn that Haman!" cursed Char as the Zeta transformed into the waverider form as her fired back with the beam rifle with Roberto followed suit as the Rick-Dias fired the clay bazooka and the beam pistol but soon found himself dodging the funnels. "Roberto!"

"Haman Karn has gotten a lot better at this since I left Axis! This is going to be tough Char!" said Roberto as he fought back with tenacity.

"Roberto! Head back and protect the Argama with Sleggar! I'll take care of this!" commanded Char.

"Roger that Char!" replied Roberto as the Rick-Dias retreated while Char provided covering fire by firing the heat-seeking grenades at Haman which also allowed Char to escape and join Kira as he spotted both The O and the Freedom heading into the cylinder of the colony laser. Meanwhile the Argama was contacting Gryps and found out that it had reached top capacity and was ready to fire at the Titan fleet and at least two-fifths of the Axis fleet.

"Lieutenant Commander Murrue! We're ready to fire the colony laser!" said Torres.

"Stand by! Char and Kira are still in the cylinder!" ordered Murrue.

"But ma'am! Our targets are moving!" said Saegusa.

"I am well aware of that! Stand by!" ordered Murrue.

"No matter what I can't allow Scirocco to destroy this weapon!" said Char as the Zeta transformed once again into the waverider, catching up to Kira with the Qubeley hot on Char's trail.

"Interesting… Scirocco is trying to destroy the colony laser from the inside. Heh." Said Haman as the Qubeley also entered as she saw the Freedom and the Zeta Gundam exchanging beam rifle shots with The O as Scirocco slashed through one of the core generators with Char pursuing Scirocco.

"Ready for the end! CHAR!" yelled Scirocco as he fired his beam rifle twice, Char evading the first but got hit on the foot on the second shot. As Char's Zeta was flying backwards to evade, Haman Karn's Qubeley came up from above and slashed off the arm that was carrying the beam rifle right off and the Zeta crashed right into another generator core, shattering the core to bits.

"A fatal error, Char!" said Scirocco with a smug tone.

"You've made a poor choice for your final resting place Char! Consider this Char, it's still not too late for you to join me!" said Haman but was quickly hit from behind by Kira in the Freedom. "The Freedom? Kira Yamato!"

"Give it a rest Haman!" retorted Char.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" yelled Kira as he fired the beam rifle of the Freedom and the two beam launchers at Scirocco but quickly evaded.

"That coordinator boy! He can't control himself, heh! You chose the wrong path! You failed to become a true newtype Char! Mongrels like you need to be culled! Understand!" yelled Scirocco as he took aim for the Zeta's right leg but was blocked off by the Freedom's anti-beam shield and fired right back at The O with the beam rifle.

"Not yet! This isn't done yet!" yelled Char as he fired the cables at the Qubeley's piercing through it's thick Gundarium armor, and pulled it towards the Zeta as Char readied his beam saber. "GET OVER HERE!"

"I don't believe this! He's actually overpowering the Qubeley!" yelled Haman as she tried to stop the cables but couldn't as Char's Zeta sliced through the shoulder verniers of the Qubeley.

"Casval! Damn you!" yelled Haman as she was forced to retreat. Char then looked back at the Freedom. Kira was about to get shot down by Scirocco if Char didn't do something quick.

"Goodbye you pest!" yelled Scirocco as he was about to slash the Freedom into 4 different pieces with the multiple arms grasping beam sabers until the Zeta released its cable weapon again and pierced through both arms, ripping them off completely and tied up The O.

"THE O! THE CONTROLS ARE DEAD! WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Scirocco yelled as he saw the Freedom Gundam glow in a blue aura.

"SCIROCCO! You can't comprehend the power that flows through my body and the Freedom! You're nothing but a coward! Always pulling strings! Always manipulating other people! I must punish you! BE GONE FROM THIS WORLD!" Kira yelled as he could see images of Flay going through his head as the Freedom slashed through The O with the beam saber as Scirocco screamed as he was destroyed with his own creation.

"Kira! We need to get out of here or else we'll be fried when they fire this thing!" yelled Char.

"Roger that Char! Let's go!" said Kira as both the Freedom and the Zeta left the cylinder and got out of the line of fire as the Argama picked them up on sensors leaving the cylinder.

"They're out! FIRE THE COLONY LASER!" yelled Murrue as Gryps fired as a giant laser beam fired out towards the Titan fleet, completely vaporizing each ship. At the end of it all, the Titans were completely crippled and defeated, along with two-fifths of Axis' battle strength. Char exited the cockpit of the Zeta as he looked back at the damaged arm and sighed.

"I got careless… And I completely failed to destroy the Qubeley…" said Char as he cursed to himself.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Casval…" said Lacus as she hugged Char from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"But there's no excuse for me failing to defeat Haman… Now this war is going to get dragged out further…" said Char.

"But you helped defeat Scirocco. It's almost over…" Lacus replied as she kissed Casval on the cheek.

"But it was Kira who defeated him… You outta reward him, not me…" said Char with a smirk.

"But Kira isn't Casval now is he?" said Lacus as she tackled her man into the wall and kissed him deeply with Astinage smirking at the whole thing.

"Get a room you two!" said Astinage as he chuckled to himself and went about repairing the Zeta. With that Lacus winked at Char as Kira smirked while Char and Lacus went off to her room. Kira yawned as he sat on the foot of the Freedom while the mechanics did their work on repairs. He sighed as he looked on in slight boredom until a notepad, a pencil, and a picture of Haman Karn fell out of the cockpit of the Zeta Gundam. He opened up the notepad and began reading the many journal entries written by Char since he was a young boy as he boarded a shuttle bound for the Argama.

"_November 25, UC 0070. I haven't seen much of my dad as of late, especially today, on my own birthday. I'm not mad at him at all, I understand he has his presidential duties to the Republic, but even so, it would have been nice if he could have taken the day off. Admiral Maharaja Karn has been over at my house a lot to have dinner with my family, but my dad and him always seem to argue about something after dinner. I hear a lot of yelling and pounding once in a while, but I do not know what they are talking about since mommy always made me and my sister Artesia leave the table right after dinner. But one night I decided to sneak back near the dining room to listen in on what they were talking about…"_

"_Admiral! Do you realize that your militaristic behavior will cause an international incident!" yelled Zeon Daikun._

"_We need to protect ourselves from those filthy coordinators that live in those godforsaken hourglasses! This is our chance to smash and destroy ZAFT into oblivion along with the rest of them! If we don't then we'll be slaves of the coordinators and the Earth Federation!" yelled Maharaja Karn. "The MS-05B Zaku I mobile suit will ensure the future glory of Zeon! I'm doing this to protect the Republic!"_

"_Absolutely not Admiral! No! I will not agree to this! We can obtain this future through peaceful means! I don't want to kill innocent people!" yelled Zeon._

"_You've gone soft Prime Minister… You even allowed that PLANT representative Siegel Clyne and that filthy slut of daughter-…" retorted Karn before he was cut off._

"_That's enough Admiral! I've heard enough of it! They're good people and they're nothing like those extremists in the PLANT council!" said Zeon._

"_They're filthy animals! Every one of them Prime Minister! If you would only sign this document I could ENSURE our victory!" replied Karn._

"…_After I heard that I ran back to the playroom where Artesia and Haman were. I looked over at Artesia. She's the nicest and most gentle person you'll ever meet. She absolutely detests fighting, and so do I. But the girl sitting next to her is my friend, Haman Karn… She on the other hand is the opposite of my sister. She at times, can be sadistic, cynical, and very cruel. Sometimes I wonder if I can even call her my friend…"_

"_Hey Char. What are you going to be doing after your birthday?" asked Haman._

"_I'm going to the movies with Lacus…" said Char._

"_You know it's ALWAYS her! Lacus THIS! Lacus THAT! I'm getting sick of hearing about her! I hate her! What does she have that I don't Casval!" yelled Haman as Artesia and Char looked at her with a surprised look._

"_She's always been jealous of Lacus. I could always tell even before that outburst…"_

After reading that entry, Kira closed the journal and sighed as he looked at the picture of a young Haman Karn wearing normal civilian clothes. As soon as the shuttle got aboard the Argama, Kira walked out as he tucked the journal away with the picture and went towards the bridge. He looked up at Murrue whose face immediately lit up and kissed him. Kira hugged onto her and sighed.

"Good work earlier. I heard you defeated Scirocco." Said Murrue as she stroked Kira's hair.

"Yeah… But the war isn't over, is it…" said Kira.

"I'm afraid not… Operation Apollo… We're taking what operational ships we have, about twelve of them and we're going to encircle and storm the Axis asteroid base…" said Murrue as she held Kira close to her. Meanwhile Char sat on the bed as Lacus peacefully slept. He sighed as he began to rub his forehead as he saw red flashes that he knew wasn't there. He shook his head, somewhat disoriented. The truth was Char was beyond exhaustion, but it felt something more than that. His newtype senses went off like crazy, yelling through his mind, images of Haman Karn. Lacus then awoke slowly opening her sleepy eyes to see a disoriented Char.

"Casval…? Are you okay?" asked Lacus.

"Yes… I'm just…" said Char as he sighed. "I'm okay…"

"Casval…" said Lacus as she hugged onto Char tightly with Char hugging onto her back in the bed. Within a few hours, the AEUG fleet had already broken through the Axis defensive line and was already preparing to invade Axis itself. Char got up from the bed, already dressing into his red pilot suit, his red comet dangling about as he looked on at Lacus, who looked anxious, and very worried. It almost seemed she was pleading to Char not to go. "Casval… I really would prefer it if you stayed here on the Eternal with me and leave it up to Kira… but I know you have to do what you need to do… When this is over, I want you to come back… to me Casval…"

Lacus began to tear up, but Char just smiled at her and kissed her deeply and caressed her hair.

"Stay alive for me, alright? I'll protect you in the Zeta Gundam…" said Char as he gave a reassuring smile as he floated off towards the mobile suit hangar, quickly getting into the cockpit of the Zeta. The Zeta made its way to the catapault as he saw Lacus from behind near the entrance to the hangar. He enlarged the video screen of Lacus and smiled.

"Char! You're clear to launch!" said an operator.

"Right. This is Char Aznable in the Zeta Gundam! Let's do this!" yelled Char as the Zeta launched from the Eternal, transforming into the waverider into the flashes of light of the battle zone. Soon joining him was Kira in the Freedom and the Rick-Dias team. "Rick-Dias team, split and take the flanks, Kira, you're coming with me. Our goal is to destroy the Gwaden and Haman Karn!"

"Right! Got ya Char!" said Kira as he followed Char deeper behind Axis lines. Roberto and Sleggar was busy fighting off the swarms of Gaza-C's. Despite Axis losing two-fifth's of its fleet, they were still putting up a good fight. Char sensed 5 Gaza-C's coming after the Freedom from behind. Quickly Char drew the hyper beam launcher and took out two of the Gaza-C's. Kira followed suit as well, finishing off two more and slicing the last with his beam saber. But soon the easy streak would come to an end as a green-blue Gaplant mobile suit with another Gaza-C approached Char.

"YOU COORDINATOR CANNON FODDER!" yelled Gato as he sliced through a Nemo and charged towards the Freedom and the Zeta. "Karius! Cover me!"

"Yes sir!" replied Karius as he re-positioned his Gaza-C and transformed into its mobile armor form but was quickly fended off by Char.

"Char! CASVAL! IS THAT YOU!" yelled Gato as he fired the Gaplant's beam cannons.

"Anavel Gato… the Nightmare of Solomon… I was hoping we wouldn't be re-united under these circumstances, old friend…" said Char as he fired right back.

"WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR THESE FILTHY COORDINATORS! YOU'RE A ZEON! WE'RE NEWTYPES! COME BACK TO ZEON!" yelled Gato as he tackled the Zeta.

"Zeon is blinded to its true evil! Haman Karn and her twisted agenda for the earth sphere! Can't you see that Anavel!" yelled Char as he slashed off the arm of the Gaplant with the Zeta's beam saber.

"If you won't come back by reason, I'll just have to kill you by force…. CASVAL!" yelled Gato as he activated his beam saber charging straight at the Zeta, Char, completely frozen, seeing the same red flashes he saw earlier, completely unable to move.

"Char!" yelled Kira as he fired the Freedom's beam rifle, completely incinerating the Gaplant and Gato along with it. Meanwhile the battlefield was becoming more and more chaotic, but the momentum shifting in favor of the AEUG. Musai after Musai exploding, with another Salamis-Kai ramming into another Musai.

"Concentrate the Argama's firing target at the Gwadan! Have the Eternal and the Kusanagi do the same!" ordered Murrue. The Gwadan didn't hold up for much long as it was constantly being bombarded by the three ships, but Haman Karn had already launched her Qubeley just in time before the Gwadan exploded.

"Damn the AEUG!" she cursed as she saw her flagship explode behind her, heading towards the surface of Axis, where sure enough, The Zeta and the Freedom Gundam were waiting. "Well, nice of you to welcome me, Casval… You're presence is welcome to Kira… Heh. Onsider your options carefully Casval, do you want to die, or would you rather live and join me?"

"Give it a rest Haman!" replied Char as the Zeta fired its hyper beam launcher while Kira flanked behind her and fired from behind.

"People like you Haman Karn! Shouldn't be allowed to live! You're the source of all the evil in this fighting! Go back to your world of darkness Haman!" yelled Kira as he fired all of the Freedom's weapons, waves of beam shots firing towards the Qubeley, but Haman dodging them all while striking back with her hand mounted beam cannon and her funnels whizzing about both the Zeta and the Freedom.

"Silence hypocrite!" yelled Haman as the funnels fired at both of them, Kira getting out of the way but Char's Zeta getting hit slightly, partially damaging the right arm of the Zeta. Haman quickly doubled back and pulled out the Qubeley's large beam saber and slashed away at Kira.

"Char! We can't defeat her! She's just way too powerful!" yelled Kira as he tried to fend off Haman while the Zeta pulled out its own beam saber.

"Hang in there Kira! We need to work together and use our number advantage against her!" yelled Char as he charged at the Qubeley from behind, completely ripping off the right shoulder.

"DAMN YOU CHAR!" yelled Haman as she fired her beam cannon, this time ripping off the Zeta Gundam's left arm along with the shield. Char was then shaken up in his cockpit, struggling to balance the Zeta from free-falling in space and finally managed to regain control as Char fired right back, knicking a part of the funnel generator pack of the Qubeley, somewhat effectively disabling the funnels for Haman's use. Getting desperate, Haman retreaed from the asteroid and into space, charging towards the Eternal.

"If I can't have you Casval… NO ONE WILL!" yelled Haman as she pulled out her beam saber once again, heading right towards the bridge of the Eternal.

"Miss Lacus! Approaching enemy mobile suit at 12 o'clock!" yelled one of the Eternal's operators as Lacus just gasped in fear as she saw the Qubeley from the window.

"Shoot it down! SHOOT THAT DAMN THING DOWN!" yelled Waltfeld as all of the Eternal's anti-air barrage focused on Haman.

"It's the end for you Lacus Clyne!" said Haman with a smug look oner face until Kira's beam rifle intervened and forced Haman to dodge. "Kira, that pest… always getting in the way!"

Haman attempted to charge again but the Zeta Gundam transformed, glowing bright red, what seemed to be attracting more red spheres of light being absorbed into the Zeta Gundam…

"I see it all now… I have to destroy you Haman Karn! All you want is power! You care for nothing! No one! You're nothing but a cruel animal Haman! I WON'T LET YOU HURT LACUS!" yelled Char as the Zeta charged at the Qubeley.

"What! The Qubeley! The controls are dead! It's not moving at all! That bright glow! WHAT IS THIS!" yelled Haman as she screamed in agony as the Zeta averider rammed right through the cockpit of her mobile suit, essentially slicing her in half.

"BE GONE FROM THIS WORLD HAMAN!" yelled Char as he cried, his helmet shattering the middle, bleeding profusely as well. The pain was beginning to overwhelm Char as he could see his mother and father, his sister Artesia, Apolly, Ramba Ral, and South Burning as he cried loudly…

"Casval! CASVAL! OH NO!" yelled Lacus as she cried loudly as well.

"If I am to die here, then I'm taking your soul with me… Char Aznable!" yelled Haman as a pink glow rammed into the Zeta, eminating from Haman herself, the Qubeley exploding, pushing the Zeta backwards as Char's eyes closed…

"I love you… Lacus…" a voice echoed as Char began to float away from the cockpit and into space, blood everywhere. Kira's eyes began to tear up as he saw his friend, Char floating lifeless across space. Quickly he opened his cockpit and dragged Char inside with him into the Freedom and towing the Zeta back to the Eternal. Lacus watched on in horror, crying her eyes out, hear heart wrenching with grief, as the Eternal's medical staff put Char onto a stretcher, looking so pale, bloody, and dead…

"Casval… You… You promised you wouldn't die on me! You promised me you'd come back to me!" yelled Lacus as she clinched onto Char's arm. She cried for a while longer until she felt Char move a little and heard him stir around and groan in pain. Her eyes slowly opened and lit up, smiling but crying even more now. "Casval!"

"P-Pretty… pretty pink hair!..." blurted Char as he looked around, smiling, but in a very loopy comatose state.

"Casval? Casval! What's wrong! Don't you remember me? Lacus! I'm Lacus!" pleaded Lacus as she shook Char.

"La…. La—Lacus? Lacus pretty! Pretty pink hair!" said Char as he laughed, clapping away as Lacus stood back, covering her face in shock as she cried even more.

"What did… What did Haman do to you out there Casval?... Baby tell me what happened! Casval! Doctor Hasan! Come quick! Casval is-…!"

"Light is blinking… star!... No, comet! Because comet go SHOOOOM!" said Char as he giggled and laughed until fell over off the bed, slightly bruising his forehead and began to cry like a young child. "Ouchies… that hurt real bad…!"

"Casval! Are you okay?" said Lacus as she held tightly onto Char, comforting him, stroking his hair as she cried her silent tears. "It's all over now Casval, the fighting is finally over… Let's go back home… Oh Casval… my poor baby…"

"Why for pretty Lacus cry?" said Char as he smiled, hugging onto Lacus as she cried harder into Char's shoulder.

After this battle, the Neo Zeon were defeated and those that were left went back to rebuild Side 3 and re-establish the Republic of Zeon, and peace restored to the earth sphere, newtype, natural, and coordinator alike, for now… Forever living on in the souls of those who lived through this terrible battle, as the One Year War.

Two years later… December 24th, UC 0081, PLANTs, Aprilius One Colony…

Over time, Char slowly began to recover from Haman's newtype attack on his mind and eventually fully recovered. Lacus sat down on the grass, looking up at the night sky, with Char sitting on her lap, Lacus gently stroking Char's hair. In the distance, their young toddler son, Judau Aznable happily played in the field of white daisies as he clapped his hands, laughing as Char smiled at him. Lacus smiled as well and extending her arms for Judau to come back.

"M…M…Ma…Mama!" said Judau as he turned around and happily laughed.

"Judau! Come to mommy!" said Lacus as she giggled as Judau slowly but surely walked, taking small baby steps at a time but faltering before he could get to Lacus but crawled his way into her arms, immediately showering her young toddler with kisses and a warm embrace. "Casval?"

"Yes honey?" said Char as he smiled, letting Judau play with his finger with his cute little hands.

"Will our son enjoy a better future than us?" asked Lacus as she snuggled her Judau close to her.

"It's hard to say…" said Char as he sighed. "But after such horrific destruction and death, there will always be the light of hope and rebirth…"

Lacus smiled at Char as the two leaned in for a deep kiss…

FIN

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Well, that's the end of this Gundam Seed/Zeta Gundam crossover trilogy. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you all who have reviewed my stories, and as always, more reviews are always a welcome addition! I may make a sequel to this fic, so look out for it you guys! Please review! 


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